What Does the String Formatting Operator % Do in Python?

Understanding the String Formatting Operator % in Python

In Python, the % operator serves a crucial role in string formatting. It allows you to create formatted strings by substituting variables or values into placeholders within a string template.

When used with a string on the left-hand side, the % operator operates as a string formatter. It expects a string containing placeholders followed by values to be substituted. The syntax for string formatting is as follows:

format % values

Here, format is the template string containing placeholders (%s, %d, etc.), and values are the values to be substituted into the placeholders.

For instance, consider the following code:

<code class="python">name = "John"
age = 30
message = "Hello %s! You are %d years old." % (name, age)
print(message)</code>

In this example, message is the template string with two placeholders, %s (for string) and %d (for integer). The placeholder %s is substituted with the value of name, while %d is substituted with the value of age. The resulting formatted string is then stored in message and printed.

Therefore, the % operator enables dynamic string manipulation, making it a versatile tool for generating formatted strings with embedded variables or values.

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