Is it more Pythonic to use String Formatting over String Concatenation in Python 3?

Question

So I\'m programming a text game in Python 3.4 that requires the use of the print() function very often to display variables to the user.

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Answer 1

It depends on the quantity and type of objects you're combining, as well as the kind of output you want.

>>> d = '20160105'
>>> t = '013640'
>>> d+t
'20160105013640'
>>> '{}{}'.format(d, t)
'20160105013640'
>>> hundreds = 2
>>> fifties = 1
>>> twenties = 1
>>> tens = 1
>>> fives = 1
>>> ones = 1
>>> quarters = 2
>>> dimes = 1
>>> nickels = 1
>>> pennies = 1
>>> 'I have ' + str(hundreds) + ' hundreds, ' + str(fifties) + ' fifties, ' + str(twenties) + ' twenties, ' + str(tens) + ' tens, ' + str(fives) + ' fives, ' + str(ones) + ' ones, ' + str(quarters) + ' quarters, ' + str(dimes) + ' dimes, ' + str(nickels) + ' nickels, and ' + str(pennies) + ' pennies.'
'I have 2 hundreds, 1 fifties, 1 twenties, 1 tens, 1 fives, 1 ones, 2 quarters, 1 dimes, 1 nickels, and 1 pennies.'
>>> 'I have {} hundreds, {} fifties, {} twenties, {} tens, {} fives, {} ones, {} quarters, {} dimes, {} nickels, and {} pennies.'.format(hundreds, fifties, twenties, tens, fives, ones, quarters, dimes, nickels, pennies)
'I have 2 hundreds, 1 fifties, 1 twenties, 1 tens, 1 fives, 1 ones, 2 quarters, 1 dimes, 1 nickels, and 1 pennies.'
>>> f'I have {hundreds} hundreds, {fifties} fifties, {twenties} twenties, {tens} tens, {fives} fives, {ones} ones, {quarters} quarters, {dimes} dimes, {nickels} nickels, and {pennies} pennies.'
'I have 2 hundreds, 1 fifties, 1 twenties, 1 tens, 1 fives, 1 ones, 2 quarters, 1 dimes, 1 nickels, and 1 pennies.'

It is much easier to create without error a large format string than it is to do a lot of concatenation, too. Add in the fact that format strings can handle actual formatting, like alignment or rounding, and you'll soon leave concatenation for only the simplest cases, as shown above.