How to Use zfill() in Julia
Overview 1
In Python, zfill()
actually serves as a method of the string class, filling the left side with zeros. Julia, on the other hand, offers the lpad()
as a more versatile and widely applicable built-in function. While zfill()
means to fill with zeros, lpad()
signifies padding to the left.
Code
julia> lpad("12", 4, "0")
"0012"
julia> lpad(12, 4, "0")
"0012"
Continuing from the overview, lpad()
in Julia is more generic compared to zfill()
. It’s not a method of the string, so it returns a string whether the argument is a string or a number.
julia> lpad(12, 4)
" 12"
julia> lpad(12, 4, "_")
"__12"
julia> lpad(12, 4, "_!")
"_!12"
julia> lpad(12, 4, "_?!")
"_?12"
julia> lpad(12, 7, "_?!")
"_?!_?12"
The common reason for using such a function is to tidy up the output aligning spaces, not necessarily because zeros are needed. If no filling character is provided, it uses a space, and if a character or string is given, it intelligently fills it as seen above.
julia> rpad("left", 6, '0')
"left00"
Of course, there’s also the rpad()
function. It has the same basic functionality, only differing in that it pads to the right.
Environment
- OS: Windows
- julia: v1.6.0