What does end=' ' in a print call exactly do?

Question

I'm struggling to understand this exercise:

def a(n):
    for i in range(n):
        for j in range(n):
            if i == 0 or i == n-1 or j == 0 or j == n-1:
                print('*',end='')
            else:
                print(' ',end='')
        print()

which prints an empty square. I thought I could use the code

print("*", ''*(n-2),"*")

to print the units in between the upper and the lower side of the square but they won't be aligned to the upper/lower side ones, which doesn't happen if you run the first code.

So, could this be because of end='' or print()?

Would you be so kind and tell me what do they mean?

This are named or keyword parameters: docs.python.org/release/1.5.1p1/tut/keywordArgs.html — PeterMmm
– PeterMmm, Commented Dec 4, 2013 at 10:18
Possible duplicate : stackoverflow.com/questions/2456148/python-print-end — Nilani Algiriyage
– Nilani Algiriyage, Commented Dec 4, 2013 at 10:26
@NilaniAlgiriyage I've also found that question and I don't think it's a duplicate. The question you found is mainly discussing the difference between Python2 and Python3 since there is no argument end for print in Python2 (actually in Python2 print is not a function but a statement). And this OP is trying to know what end does. — starrify
– starrify, Commented Dec 4, 2013 at 10:37

starrify · Accepted Answer · 2013-12-04 10:20:33Z

11

Check the reference page of print. By default there is a newline character appended to the item being printed (end='\n'), and end='' is used to make it printed on the same line.

And print() prints an empty newline, which is necessary to keep on printing on the next line.

EDITED: added an example.
Actually you could also use this:

def a(n):
    print('*' * n)
    for i in range(n - 2):
        print('*' + ' ' * (n - 2) + '*')
    if n > 1:
        print('*' * n)

answered Dec 4, 2013 at 10:20

starrify

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2 Comments

Robᵩ Over a year ago

Or, in a single call to print: print( '*' * n + '\n' + ( '*' + ' '*(n-2) + '*\n' )*(n-2) + '*'*n )

starrify Over a year ago

@Robᵩ Of course there're many ways to write the code short, however this is not something like IOCCC and the purpose of source code is for people to read. I don't see any benefit to write like that. Also, are you sure you're providing a correct example? You may try n=1.

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 10:27:00Z

1

In Python 3.x, the end=' ' is used to place a space after the displayed string instead of a newline.

please refer this for a further explanation.

edited May 23, 2017 at 10:27

CommunityBot

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answered Dec 4, 2013 at 10:25

Nilani Algiriyage

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Comments

Andrey Shokhin · Accepted Answer · 2013-12-04 10:25:30Z

0

print() uses some separator when it has more than one parameter. In your code you have 3 ("" is first, ''(n-2) - second, "*" -third). If you don't want to use separator between them add sep='' as key-word parameter.

print("*", ' '*(n-2), "*", sep='')

answered Dec 4, 2013 at 10:25

Andrey Shokhin

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Comments

Community · Accepted Answer · 2021-09-19 11:57:52Z

spam = ['apples', 'bananas', 'tofu', 'cats']
    i = 0
    for i in range(len (spam)):
        if i == len(spam) -1:
            print ('and', spam[i])
        elif i == len (spam) -2:
            print (spam [i], end=' ')
        else:
            print (spam [i], end=', ')

So I'm new to this whole coding thing, but I came up with this code. It's probably not as sophisticated as the other stuff, but it does the job.

spam = ['apples', 'bananas', 'tofu', 'cats']    
def fruits():
    i = 0
    while i != len(spam):
        if len(spam) != i :
            print ('and', spam[i])
            i += 1   
 fruits()

try this!

Suraj Rao · Accepted Answer · 2021-09-21 10:23:47Z

0

use this to understand

for i in range(0,52):
    print(5*"fiof" ,end=" ")

just put different things here in end and also use with sep

edited Sep 21, 2021 at 10:23

Suraj Rao

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answered Sep 21, 2021 at 10:19

animesh negi

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Comments

J Sujal Kumar · Accepted Answer · 2024-03-06 09:04:34Z

0

spam=['apples','bananas','tofu','cats']
def fruits():
    i=0
    while (i<len(spam)):
           if(i!=(len(spam)-1)):
              print(spam[i],end=', ')
           else:
                print("and",spam[i])
           i=i+1
fruits()

edited Mar 6, 2024 at 9:04

answered Mar 6, 2024 at 9:02

J Sujal Kumar

11 bronze badge

3 Comments

Matt Seymour Over a year ago

This does not provide an answer to the question. Once you have sufficient reputation you will be able to comment on any post; instead, provide answers that don't require clarification from the asker. - From Review

Jeremy Caney Over a year ago

@MattSeymour: Can you explain why this isn’t an answer?

Jeremy Caney Over a year ago

Thank you for contributing to the Stack Overflow community. This may be a correct answer, but it’d be really useful to provide additional explanation of your code so developers can understand your reasoning. This is especially useful for new developers who aren’t as familiar with the syntax or struggling to understand the concepts. Would you kindly edit your answer to include additional details for the benefit of the community?

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