String Format

>>> '{:<30}'.format('left aligned')
'left aligned                  '
>>> '{:>30}'.format('right aligned')
'                 right aligned'
>>> '{:^30}'.format('centered')
'           centered           '
>>> '{:*^30}'.format('centered')  # use '*' as a fill char
'***********centered***********'

Replacing %+f, %-f, and % f and specifying a sign:

>>> '{:+f}; {:+f}'.format(3.14, -3.14)  # show it always
'+3.140000; -3.140000'
>>> '{: f}; {: f}'.format(3.14, -3.14)  # show a space for positive numbers
' 3.140000; -3.140000'
>>> '{:-f}; {:-f}'.format(3.14, -3.14)  # show only the minus -- same as '{:f}; {:f}'
'3.140000; -3.140000'

Replacing %x and %o and converting the value to different bases:

>>> # format also supports binary numbers
>>> "int: {0:d};  hex: {0:x};  oct: {0:o};  bin: {0:b}".format(42)
'int: 42;  hex: 2a;  oct: 52;  bin: 101010'
>>> # with 0x, 0o, or 0b as prefix:
>>> "int: {0:d};  hex: {0:#x};  oct: {0:#o};  bin: {0:#b}".format(42)
'int: 42;  hex: 0x2a;  oct: 0o52;  bin: 0b101010'

Using the comma as a thousands separator:

>>> '{:,}'.format(1234567890)
'1,234,567,890'

Expressing a percentage:

>>> points = 19.5
>>> total = 22
>>> 'Correct answers: {:.2%}'.format(points/total)
'Correct answers: 88.64%'

Using type-specific formatting:

>>> import datetime
>>> d = datetime.datetime(2010, 7, 4, 12, 15, 58)
>>> '{:%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S}'.format(d)
'2010-07-04 12:15:58'