Print Function

What is print()?

The print() function is used to display something on the screen.

For example:

print("Hello World!")
 
# Output: Hello World!

You can use print() to display text, numbers, or other values.

print("Hello") 
print(42)
 
# Output:
Hello 
42

Python 2 vs Python 3

If you come across older Python code, you might see:

print "Hello"

This was valid in Python 2.

In Python 3, print is a function, so we use parentheses:

print("Hello")

Since we’re learning Python 3, you’ll always use print().

Using multiple values

You can pass multiple values to print():

print("Hello", "World")
 
# Output:
Hello World

By default, Python adds a space between the values.

You can change this using the sep parameter.

sep

sep tells Python what to put between multiple values.

print("Hello", "World", sep=", ")
 
# Output: 
Hello, World

The default value of sep is a space.

end

By default, print() moves to a new line after displaying something.

print("Hello") 
print("World")
 
# Output:
Hello
World

You can change this using the end parameter:

print("Hello", end=" ") 
print("World")
 
# Output: 
Hello World

Here, instead of moving to a new line after Hello, Python adds a space.

One more thing to know

print() shows something on the screen, but it doesn’t give that value back.

For example:

x = print("hi")

This will print hi, but x will not contain "hi".

x will contain None, which basically means “nothing.”

👉 Next tutorial: Python Escape Sequence Characters