[Python]Input/Output and str Formatting

1. Function:Print

Print a sequence of arguments for a user to read. Multiple arguments are separated by spaces.

a. During execution of a function call, if the end of the function body is reached without executing a return statement, that function call produces a value None.

eg. 

>>> def square_return(num):

                  return num**2

return_answer=square_return(2)    //Nothing happens! Type!

return_answer

4

num(2)-3                      //This is a numeric. 

1

>>> def square_print(num):

          print "The square answer is" num**2

print_answer=print_answer(2)

The square answer is 4

num(2)-3   //This is not a numeric.

Error    

Hint: Remenber that the print funxtion only prints a value onto the screen. A function that does not have a return statement returns None.

2. Function: Input

input: get a string from the user.

  The argument to input is called a prompt.

  The functin pauses until the user types a newline.

  The return value is the string the user typed.

eg.

>>> input("What is your name?")
What is your name?Jen
'Jen'
>>> name = input("What is your name? ")
What is your name? Jen
>>> name
'Jen'
>>> location = input("What is your location? ")
What is your location? Toronto
>>> name
'Jen'
>>> location
'Toronto'
>>> print(name, "lives in", location)
Jen lives in Toronto

Triple-quoted strings

We have used single- and double- quotes to represent strings. The third string format uses triple-quotes and a triple-quoted string cab span multiple lines. For example:

>>> print(''' How
are
you?''')
How
are
you?

Escape Sequences

Python has a special character called an escape character:\. When the escape character is used in a string, the character. When the escape character is used in a string, the character following the escape character is treated differently from normal. The escape character together with the character that follows it is an escape sequence. 

Escape Sequence	Name	Example	Output
\n	newline (ASCII linefeed - LF)	print('''How are you?''')	How are you?
\t	tab (ASCII horizontal tab - TAB)	print('3\t4\t5')	3 4 5
\\	backslash (\)	print('\\')	\
\'	single quote (')	print('don\'t')	don't
\"	double quote (")	print("He says, \"hi\".")	He says, "hi".