How can I align strings of varying lengths for fixed-width output in Python?

Formatting Strings for Fixed Width Output

In Python, printing strings of varying lengths can result in misaligned output. To address this issue, we can utilize string formatting methods like str.format or f-strings to align the output precisely.

Using str.format

The str.format method allows for custom formatting using placeholders. By specifying the placeholder's position and alignment, we can enforce a consistent width for the output string.

For example, to left-align a string to a fixed width of 5 characters, we can use the following syntax:

'{0: <5}'.format('my_string')

This will ensure that the string 'my_string' is left-aligned within a width of 5 characters, with any extra space padded with spaces.

Similarly, right-alignment can be achieved by using '>' instead of '<':

'{0: >5}'.format('my_string')

Using f-Strings

Introduced in Python 3, f-strings offer a more concise syntax for string formatting. The placeholder's alignment and width can be specified directly in the string:

f'{my_string:>5}'

Applying to String Permutations

In the provided code, each permutation of a string is being printed along with its count of occurrences. To align the output, we can modify the code to use string formatting:

for prefix in unique:
    print(f"{prefix:>{len(string)}} - num of occurrences =   {string.count(str(prefix))}")

This modification ensures that all permutations, regardless of their length, will be aligned to the right-hand side within a width equal to the length of the original string.

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