Formatting lists in Python

Question

I am very new to coding, and I am trying to create a project that lists grade percentages along with their letter equivalents. I am having a lot of trouble formatting it to look nice, though. This is most of the code I currently have:

(Edited to show more data)

def main():
    grade_list = create_grades()
    print_list(grade_list)

def create_grades():
    grade_list = []
    for student in range(35):
        percentage_grade = round(random.uniform(50, 100), 2)
        letter_grade = get_grade(percentage_grade)
        dumb_tuple = (percentage_grade, letter_grade)
        grade_list.append(dumb_tuple)

list_title = "Grades for Class With a Cool Name"
def print_list(grade_list):
    print(list_title)
    print("{:20}".format("Grade Percentage"), "Letter Grade")
    for student in grade_list:
        print('{:10}'.format(student[0]), "{:>17}".format(student[1]))

and this is the resulting output:

Grades for Class With a Cool Name
Grade Percentage     Letter Grade
     93.44                 A
     99.58                 A
     67.37                D+
     79.07                C+
     64.75                 D
     79.42                C+
      97.2                 A
     73.37                 C
     86.33                 B
     83.56                 B
     98.89                 A
     68.74                D+
     76.03                 C
     63.75                 D
     77.43                C+
     51.32                 F
     53.18                 F
     61.56                D-
      65.4                 D
     94.48                 A
     85.96                 B
     92.62                A-
     90.51                A-
      91.7                A-
     50.76                 F
     67.93                D+
     52.98                 F
     81.85                B-
     60.91                D-
     84.71                 B
     63.74                 D
     61.64                D-
     74.21                 C
     97.99                 A
     72.95                C-

All I am trying to accomplish now is to make the letters line up, rather than having them become a jagged line when there is a plus or minus added to the value. I know this may seem like a relatively simple question, but none of my google research has helped me much, as I don't understand a lot of code yet. Any responses help.

I think Pandas would be better

U13-Forward
– U13-Forward

2019-11-05 02:49:59 +00:00
Commented Nov 5, 2019 at 2:49 — U13-Forward
– U13-Forward, Commented Nov 5, 2019 at 2:49
@ggorlen I just updated the code

Shayla
– Shayla

2019-11-05 03:09:30 +00:00
Commented Nov 5, 2019 at 3:09 — Shayla
– Shayla, Commented Nov 5, 2019 at 3:09

U13-Forward · Accepted Answer · 2019-11-05 02:51:58Z

1

If pandas is ok with you:

import pandas as pd
df = pd.DataFrame(grade_list, columns=['Grade Percentage', 'Letter Grade'])
print(list_title)
print(df)

answered Nov 5, 2019 at 2:51

U13-Forward

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Comments

Shayla · Accepted Answer · 2019-11-05 03:50:47Z

Using the code suggested, my updated formatting looks like this:

def print_list(grade_list):
    print(list_title)
    print("{:20}".format("Grade Percentage"), "Letter Grade")
    for student in grade_list:
        print('{:10}'.format(student[0]), "{:>17}{:>1}".format(student[1][0], student[1][1:]))

and this is my new output:

Grades for Class With a Cool Name
Grade Percentage     Letter Grade
     98.99                 A 
     65.17                 D 
     68.71                 D+
     78.15                 C+
     85.97                 B 
     91.48                 A-
     57.61                 F 
      73.5                 C 
     70.06                 C-
     75.54                 C 
     50.14                 F 
     59.78                 F 
     80.49                 B-
      67.5                 D+
     90.99                 A-
     59.28                 F 
     50.37                 F 
     52.03                 F 
     60.42                 D-
     60.38                 D-
     81.54                 B-
     92.49                 A-
     55.96                 F 
     73.52                 C 
     85.03                 B 
     80.36                 B-
      80.4                 B-
      71.8                 C-
     81.64                 B-
     58.89                 F 
     67.06                 D+
     79.22                 C+
     50.72                 F 
     64.91                 D 
     84.82                 B

Thanks for the help! My code is working perfectly now and I don't have to obsess over that little formatting error.

Glad it works! And, I was already thinking of fixing the spacing because it bothered me too!

ufoxDan · Accepted Answer · 2019-11-05 03:27:05Z

0

If you don't want to use any other libraries, there is a pretty simple solution.

Update your print statement like this:

print('{:10}'.format(student[0]), "{:>17}".format(student[1][0]), "{:<1}".format(student[1][1:]))

and you'll get output like:

Grades for Class With a Cool Name
Grade Percentage     Letter Grade
jeff                       A +
sally                      A
tim                        B -

This works by splitting your student[1] value (the grade) into two pieces. First, student[1][0] gets the letter and we right justify it with the same spacing you had. Next, we will pull off the plus/minus if it exists with student[1][1:]. This is a slice which goes from index 1 to the end. If index 1 is the non-inclusive end, then this slice is "empty" so nothing happens.

EDIT: To remove spaces, you can put the {} items in one statement and separate the arguments with commas:

print('{:10}'.format(student[0]), "{:>17}{:<1}".format(student[1][0], student[1][1:]))

edited Nov 5, 2019 at 3:27

answered Nov 5, 2019 at 3:04

ufoxDan

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4 Comments

Shayla Over a year ago

This is awesome and actually really helped the alignment, but is there anyway to maintain having no space between the letter value and the +/-?

ufoxDan Over a year ago

I answered this in the edit. Glad it could help and don't forget to accept a solution!

AMC Over a year ago

Wouldn’t it be better to use f-strings?

ufoxDan Over a year ago

While f-strings are an option, I'm not sure how to argue which is "better" beyond preference for a beginner. Since their question used the string format method, an answer keeping in what they are familiar with seemed better than introducing a new technique. If you want, you can post an answer using f-strings in an example so that others can see more options and choose which one fits their preference.

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