Sometimes, it might be required to not just obtain the correct output, but get it in a neat, and presentable fashion. This is where pprint() method finds its significance. It helps print data objects in a pretty format, more readable, and well-formatted (pprint itself means pretty print).
For example, when the pprint method is used, data passed to this method is tried to be printed on a single line, and otherwise printed with indents on multiple lines. It needs to be imported before being used.
The below line of code demonstrates the same:
from pprint import pprint
The pprint module has a constructor called PrettyPrinter which has the below format:
class pprint.PrettyPrinter(indent=1, width=80, depth=None, stream=None, *, compact=False)
When this method is called, an instance of PrettyPrinter is created, which specifies the below values:
indent: The amount of indent when there are multiple lines
width: The amount of width between two data objects
depth: The number of levels which need to be printed
stream: An output stream (where the data is displayed) can be set-up
compact: It helps fit as many objects as possible within every line's width
Syntax of pprint method
Following is the syntax of the python pprint() method,
pprint.pprint(object, stream=None, indent=1, width=80, depth=None, stream=None, *, compact=False, sort_dicts=True)
The object which needs to be printed in a well-formatted and readable fashion is passed to the pprint method of the pprint class. It prints the data and is followed by a newline. The other parameters like width, depth, compact and sort_dicts are passed to the PrettyPrinter constructor of the pprint class.
Note: The assignment, print = pprint.pprint is allowed since it reassigns the print value to be used within a specific scope.
Time for an example:
import pprint
my_dict = {1:'a', 2:'b', 3:'z', 4:'m', 5:'Studytonight'}
pprint.pprint(my_dict, indent = 1, width = 40, depth=5)
Output:
{1: 'a',
2: 'b',
3: 'z',
4: 'm',
5: 'Studytonight'}
Conclusion
In this post, we discussed the usage and significance of the pprint method along with a few examples. Do let us know how you would use this method in your applications.
