Python Expand Tabs Length Calculation

Question

I\'m confused by how the length of a string is calculated when expandtabs is used. I thought expandtabs replaces tabs with the appropriate number of spaces (with the default

Answer 1

The tab increments the column pointer to the next multiple of 8:

>>> 'abc\tabc'.expandtabs().replace(' ', '*')
'abc*****abc'

Answer 2

Like when you are entering tabs in a text-editor, the tab character increases the length to the next multiple of 8.

So:

• '\t' by itself is 8, obviously.
• '\t\t' is 16.
• 'abc\tabc' starts at 3 characters, then a tab pushes it up to 8, and then the last 'abc' pushes it from 8 to 11...
• 'abc\tabc\tabc' likewise starts at 3, tab bumps it to 8, another 'abc' goes to 11, then another tab pushes it to 16, and the final 'abc' brings the length to 19.