Formatting floats without trailing zeros

Question

How can I format a float so that it doesn\'t contain trailing zeros? In other words, I want the resulting string to be as short as possible.

For example:

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Answer 1

Using the QuantiPhy package is an option. Normally QuantiPhy is used when working with numbers with units and SI scale factors, but it has a variety of nice number formatting options.

    >>> from quantiphy import Quantity

    >>> cases = '3 3. 3.0 3.1 3.14 3.140 3.14000'.split()
    >>> for case in cases:
    ...    q = Quantity(case)
    ...    print(f'{case:>7} -> {q:p}')
          3 -> 3
         3. -> 3
        3.0 -> 3
        3.1 -> 3.1
       3.14 -> 3.14
      3.140 -> 3.14
    3.14000 -> 3.14

And it will not use e-notation in this situation:

    >>> cases = '3.14e-9 3.14 3.14e9'.split()
    >>> for case in cases:
    ...    q = Quantity(case)
    ...    print(f'{case:>7} -> {q:,p}')
    3.14e-9 -> 0
       3.14 -> 3.14
     3.14e9 -> 3,140,000,000

An alternative you might prefer is to use SI scale factors, perhaps with units.

    >>> cases = '3e-9 3.14e-9 3 3.14 3e9 3.14e9'.split()
    >>> for case in cases:
    ...    q = Quantity(case, 'm')
    ...    print(f'{case:>7} -> {q}')
       3e-9 -> 3 nm
    3.14e-9 -> 3.14 nm
          3 -> 3 m
       3.14 -> 3.14 m
        3e9 -> 3 Gm
     3.14e9 -> 3.14 Gm