Why does print(1,000,000) in Python give 1 0 0 instead of 1 000 000?

Question

I understand that the comma (,) makes Python think that print(1,000,000) is a list of three items to be printed.

However, why is only 1 zero (0) of the 3 printed? Surely 1 000 000 should be printed instead of 1 0 0? Why have the other 2 zeroes disappeared?

Thank you all for your help!! Alas I must appeal to the masters^^.

It's as though you are passing 3 different arguments into `print`: 1, 000 (which is 0), and 000 (0, again) — Archie Gertsman, Nov 29 '17 at 05:33
Obviously you're using Python 2.x, that would be a syntax error in Python 3. — Mark Ransom, Nov 29 '17 at 05:35
@TomKarzes actually leading zeroes have a huge effect on the value, in Python 2.x they cause the following digits to be evaluated as octal instead of decimal. `00123` is actually `83`. It just so happens that this particular example doesn't show the effect, since zero is zero in any base. — Mark Ransom, Nov 29 '17 at 05:54
@MarkRansom Oops, yes you're right of course. I was thinking of how `int()` works, rather than how literals are converted. It looks like Python 3 no longer supports that syntax. They both still support `0x123` though. — Tom Karzes, Nov 29 '17 at 05:57

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 29 '17 at 05:36

0

Python truncates leading zeros as they do not add to the value of the number, which in this case is 0.

answered Nov 29 '17 at 05:36

Ovyerus

1 Answers1