How to print number with commas as thousands separ

Question

I am trying to print an integer in Python 2.6.1 with commas as thousands separators. For example, I want to show the number 1234567 as 1,234,567. How would I go about doing this? I have seen many examples on Google, but I am looking for the simplest practical way.

It does not need to be locale-specific to decide between periods and commas. I would prefer something as simple as reasonably possible.

Answer 1

Just subclass long (or float, or whatever). This is highly practical, because this way you can still use your numbers in math ops (and therefore existing code), but they will all print nicely in your terminal.

>>> class number(long):

        def __init__(self, value):
            self = value

        def __repr__(self):
            s = str(self)
            l = [x for x in s if x in '1234567890']
            for x in reversed(range(len(s)-1)[::3]):
                l.insert(-x, ',')
            l = ''.join(l[1:])
            return ('-'+l if self < 0 else l) 

>>> number(-100000)
-100,000
>>> number(-100)
-100
>>> number(-12345)
-12,345
>>> number(928374)
928,374
>>> 345

Answer 2

This is what I do for floats. Although, honestly, I'm not sure which versions it works for - I'm using 2.7:

my_number = 4385893.382939491

my_string = '{:0,.2f}'.format(my_number)

Returns: 4,385,893.38

Update: I recently had an issue with this format (couldn't tell you the exact reason), but was able to fix it by dropping the 0:

my_string = '{:,.2f}'.format(my_number)

Answer 3

Here's one that works for floats too:

def float2comma(f):
    s = str(abs(f)) # Convert to a string
    decimalposition = s.find(".") # Look for decimal point
    if decimalposition == -1:
        decimalposition = len(s) # If no decimal, then just work from the end
    out = "" 
    for i in range(decimalposition+1, len(s)): # do the decimal
        if not (i-decimalposition-1) % 3 and i-decimalposition-1: out = out+","
        out = out+s[i]      
    if len(out):
        out = "."+out # add the decimal point if necessary
    for i in range(decimalposition-1,-1,-1): # working backwards from decimal point
        if not (decimalposition-i-1) % 3 and decimalposition-i-1: out = ","+out
        out = s[i]+out      
    if f < 0:
        out = "-"+out
    return out

Usage Example:

>>> float2comma(10000.1111)
'10,000.111,1'
>>> float2comma(656565.122)
'656,565.122'
>>> float2comma(-656565.122)
'-656,565.122'

Answer 4

One liner for Python 2.5+ and Python 3 (positive int only):

''.join(reversed([x + (',' if i and not i % 3 else '') for i, x in enumerate(reversed(str(1234567)))]))

Answer 5

I am a Python beginner, but an experienced programmer. I have Python 3.5, so I can just use the comma, but this is nonetheless an interesting programming exercise. Consider the case of an unsigned integer. The most readable Python program for adding thousands separators appears to be:

def add_commas(instr):
    out = [instr[0]]
    for i in range(1, len(instr)):
        if (len(instr) - i) % 3 == 0:
            out.append(',')
        out.append(instr[i])
    return ''.join(out)

It is also possible to use a list comprehension:

add_commas(instr):
    rng = reversed(range(1, len(instr) + (len(instr) - 1)//3 + 1))
    out = [',' if j%4 == 0 else instr[-(j - j//4)] for j in rng]
    return ''.join(out)

This is shorter, and could be a one liner, but you will have to do some mental gymnastics to understand why it works. In both cases we get:

for i in range(1, 11):
    instr = '1234567890'[:i]
    print(instr, add_commas(instr))

1 1
12 12
123 123
1234 1,234
12345 12,345
123456 123,456
1234567 1,234,567
12345678 12,345,678
123456789 123,456,789
1234567890 1,234,567,890

The first version is the more sensible choice, if you want the program to be understood.

Answer 6

I'm using python 2.5 so I don't have access to the built-in formatting.

I looked at the Django code intcomma (intcomma_recurs in code below) and realized it's inefficient, because it's recursive and also compiling the regex on every run is not a good thing either. This is not necessary an 'issue' as django isn't really THAT focused on this kind of low-level performance. Also, I was expecting a factor of 10 difference in performance, but it's only 3 times slower.

Out of curiosity I implemented a few versions of intcomma to see what the performance advantages are when using regex. My test data concludes a slight advantage for this task, but surprisingly not much at all.

I also was pleased to see what I suspected: using the reverse xrange approach is unnecessary in the no-regex case, but it does make the code look slightly better at the cost of ~10% performance.

Also, I assume what you're passing in is a string and looks somewhat like a number. Results undetermined otherwise.

from __future__ import with_statement
from contextlib import contextmanager
import re,time

re_first_num = re.compile(r"\d")
def intcomma_noregex(value):
    end_offset, start_digit, period = len(value),re_first_num.search(value).start(),value.rfind('.')
    if period == -1:
        period=end_offset
    segments,_from_index,leftover = [],0,(period-start_digit) % 3
    for _index in xrange(start_digit+3 if not leftover else start_digit+leftover,period,3):
        segments.append(value[_from_index:_index])
        _from_index=_index
    if not segments:
        return value
    segments.append(value[_from_index:])
    return ','.join(segments)

def intcomma_noregex_reversed(value):
    end_offset, start_digit, period = len(value),re_first_num.search(value).start(),value.rfind('.')
    if period == -1:
        period=end_offset
    _from_index,segments = end_offset,[]
    for _index in xrange(period-3,start_digit,-3):
        segments.append(value[_index:_from_index])
        _from_index=_index
    if not segments:
        return value
    segments.append(value[:_from_index])
    return ','.join(reversed(segments))

re_3digits = re.compile(r'(?<=\d)\d{3}(?!\d)')
def intcomma(value):
    segments,last_endoffset=[],len(value)
    while last_endoffset > 3:
        digit_group = re_3digits.search(value,0,last_endoffset)
        if not digit_group:
            break
        segments.append(value[digit_group.start():last_endoffset])
        last_endoffset=digit_group.start()
    if not segments:
        return value
    if last_endoffset:
        segments.append(value[:last_endoffset])
    return ','.join(reversed(segments))

def intcomma_recurs(value):
    """
    Converts an integer to a string containing commas every three digits.
    For example, 3000 becomes '3,000' and 45000 becomes '45,000'.
    """
    new = re.sub("^(-?\d+)(\d{3})", '\g<1>,\g<2>', str(value))
    if value == new:
        return new
    else:
        return intcomma(new)

@contextmanager
def timed(save_time_func):
    begin=time.time()
    try:
        yield
    finally:
        save_time_func(time.time()-begin)

def testset_xsimple(func):
    func('5')

def testset_simple(func):
    func('567')

def testset_onecomma(func):
    func('567890')

def testset_complex(func):
    func('-1234567.024')

def testset_average(func):
    func('-1234567.024')
    func('567')
    func('5674')

if __name__ == '__main__':
    print 'Test results:'
    for test_data in ('5','567','1234','1234.56','-253892.045'):
        for func in (intcomma,intcomma_noregex,intcomma_noregex_reversed,intcomma_recurs):
            print func.__name__,test_data,func(test_data)
    times=[]
    def overhead(x):
        pass
    for test_run in xrange(1,4):
        for func in (intcomma,intcomma_noregex,intcomma_noregex_reversed,intcomma_recurs,overhead):
            for testset in (testset_xsimple,testset_simple,testset_onecomma,testset_complex,testset_average):
                for x in xrange(1000): # prime the test
                    testset(func)
                with timed(lambda x:times.append(((test_run,func,testset),x))):
                    for x in xrange(50000):
                        testset(func)
    for (test_run,func,testset),_delta in times:
        print test_run,func.__name__,testset.__name__,_delta

And here are the test results:

intcomma 5 5
intcomma_noregex 5 5
intcomma_noregex_reversed 5 5
intcomma_recurs 5 5
intcomma 567 567
intcomma_noregex 567 567
intcomma_noregex_reversed 567 567
intcomma_recurs 567 567
intcomma 1234 1,234
intcomma_noregex 1234 1,234
intcomma_noregex_reversed 1234 1,234
intcomma_recurs 1234 1,234
intcomma 1234.56 1,234.56
intcomma_noregex 1234.56 1,234.56
intcomma_noregex_reversed 1234.56 1,234.56
intcomma_recurs 1234.56 1,234.56
intcomma -253892.045 -253,892.045
intcomma_noregex -253892.045 -253,892.045
intcomma_noregex_reversed -253892.045 -253,892.045
intcomma_recurs -253892.045 -253,892.045
1 intcomma testset_xsimple 0.0410001277924
1 intcomma testset_simple 0.0369999408722
1 intcomma testset_onecomma 0.213000059128
1 intcomma testset_complex 0.296000003815
1 intcomma testset_average 0.503000020981
1 intcomma_noregex testset_xsimple 0.134000062943
1 intcomma_noregex testset_simple 0.134999990463
1 intcomma_noregex testset_onecomma 0.190999984741
1 intcomma_noregex testset_complex 0.209000110626
1 intcomma_noregex testset_average 0.513000011444
1 intcomma_noregex_reversed testset_xsimple 0.124000072479
1 intcomma_noregex_reversed testset_simple 0.12700009346
1 intcomma_noregex_reversed testset_onecomma 0.230000019073
1 intcomma_noregex_reversed testset_complex 0.236999988556
1 intcomma_noregex_reversed testset_average 0.56299996376
1 intcomma_recurs testset_xsimple 0.348000049591
1 intcomma_recurs testset_simple 0.34600019455
1 intcomma_recurs testset_onecomma 0.625
1 intcomma_recurs testset_complex 0.773999929428
1 intcomma_recurs testset_average 1.6890001297
1 overhead testset_xsimple 0.0179998874664
1 overhead testset_simple 0.0190000534058
1 overhead testset_onecomma 0.0190000534058
1 overhead testset_complex 0.0190000534058
1 overhead testset_average 0.0309998989105
2 intcomma testset_xsimple 0.0360000133514
2 intcomma testset_simple 0.0369999408722
2 intcomma testset_onecomma 0.207999944687
2 intcomma testset_complex 0.302000045776
2 intcomma testset_average 0.523000001907
2 intcomma_noregex testset_xsimple 0.139999866486
2 intcomma_noregex testset_simple 0.141000032425
2 intcomma_noregex testset_onecomma 0.203999996185
2 intcomma_noregex testset_complex 0.200999975204
2 intcomma_noregex testset_average 0.523000001907
2 intcomma_noregex_reversed testset_xsimple 0.130000114441
2 intcomma_noregex_reversed testset_simple 0.129999876022
2 intcomma_noregex_reversed testset_onecomma 0.236000061035
2 intcomma_noregex_reversed testset_complex 0.241999864578
2 intcomma_noregex_reversed testset_average 0.582999944687
2 intcomma_recurs testset_xsimple 0.351000070572
2 intcomma_recurs testset_simple 0.352999925613
2 intcomma_recurs testset_onecomma 0.648999929428
2 intcomma_recurs testset_complex 0.808000087738
2 intcomma_recurs testset_average 1.81900000572
2 overhead testset_xsimple 0.0189998149872
2 overhead testset_simple 0.0189998149872
2 overhead testset_onecomma 0.0190000534058
2 overhead testset_complex 0.0179998874664
2 overhead testset_average 0.0299999713898
3 intcomma testset_xsimple 0.0360000133514
3 intcomma testset_simple 0.0360000133514
3 intcomma testset_onecomma 0.210000038147
3 intcomma testset_complex 0.305999994278
3 intcomma testset_average 0.493000030518
3 intcomma_noregex testset_xsimple 0.131999969482
3 intcomma_noregex testset_simple 0.136000156403
3 intcomma_noregex testset_onecomma 0.192999839783
3 intcomma_noregex testset_complex 0.202000141144
3 intcomma_noregex testset_average 0.509999990463
3 intcomma_noregex_reversed testset_xsimple 0.125999927521
3 intcomma_noregex_reversed testset_simple 0.126999855042
3 intcomma_noregex_reversed testset_onecomma 0.235999822617
3 intcomma_noregex_reversed testset_complex 0.243000030518
3 intcomma_noregex_reversed testset_average 0.56200003624
3 intcomma_recurs testset_xsimple 0.337000131607
3 intcomma_recurs testset_simple 0.342000007629
3 intcomma_recurs testset_onecomma 0.609999895096
3 intcomma_recurs testset_complex 0.75
3 intcomma_recurs testset_average 1.68300008774
3 overhead testset_xsimple 0.0189998149872
3 overhead testset_simple 0.018000125885
3 overhead testset_onecomma 0.018000125885
3 overhead testset_complex 0.0179998874664
3 overhead testset_average 0.0299999713898