Python Pocket Reference, Second Edition

Name

The print Statement

Synopsis

print [value [, value]* [,]]
print >> fileobj [, value [,value]* [,]]

Displays the printable representation of values on stdout stream (the current setting of sys.stdout). Adds spaces between values. Trailing comma suppresses linefeed normally added at end of list. Because print simply calls the write method of the object currently referenced by sys.stdout, the following is equivalent to print X:

import sys
sys.stdout.write(str(X) + '\n')

To redirect print text to files or class objects, reassign sys.stdout to any object with a write method:

sys.stdout = open('log', 'a')  # any object with a write(  )
print "Warning-bad spam!"  # goes to the object's write(  )

Extended print form

As of Python 2.0, the print statement may also name an open output file-like object to be the target of the printed text (instead of sys.stdout):

fileobj = open('log', 'a')
print >> fileobj, "Warning-bad spam!"

If the file object is None, sys.stdout is used. Because sys.stdout can be reassigned, the >> form is not strictly needed; however, it can often avoid both explicit write method calls and saving and restoring the original sys.stdout value around a redirected print.