Python String center() Method

2022-11-06T19:13:02.511Z

The str.center() method center aligns the string by padding it with a specified character (fillchar) that fills the string on both the left and right sides of the string and returns a new string.

Example:

# Python Center Method

text = "Python Programming"
print(text.center(25, "*"))

Output

****Python Programming***

Syntax

The Syntax of the str.center() function is:

str.center(width[, fillchar])

Here, str is a string.

Parameters

The str.center() function can take two parameters.

width - The length of the string after padding with the characters.
fillchar (optional) - The character that needs to be used for padding. If fillchar parameter is not passed, the ASCII whitespace is used as the default argument.

Return Value

The str.center() function returns a copy of padded string with specified fillchar. It does not modify the original string.

Note: The original string is returned as-is if the given width is less than the total length of the string.

Example 1: center() method with specific fillchar

In the below example, we have used the center() method and passed various fillchar characters. The center() method returns the copy of the centered string padded with fillchar at both ends.

# Python Center Method

text = "Python"
print(text.center(25, "#"))
print(text.center(25, "*"))
print(text.center(25, "$"))
print(text.center(25, "_"))
print(text.center(25, "-"))
print(text.center(25, "~"))

Output

##########Python#########
**********Python*********
$$$$$$$$$$Python$$$$$$$$$
__________Python_________
----------Python---------
~~~~~~~~~~Python~~~~~~~~~

Example 2: center() method with default fillchar

In the below example, we have not passed the fillchar argument to the center() method. Hence the center() method pads with a default whitespace character and returns the string with the padded length.

# Python Center Method Default Argument

text = "Python"
print(text.center(10))
print(text.center(15))
print(text.center(20))
print(text.center(25))
print(text.center(30))

Output

  Python  
     Python    
       Python       
          Python         
            Python

Example 3: center() method that has a width less than the string length

If the width passed to the center() method is less than the length of the string, the center() method will return the original string as-is.

# Python Center Method

text = "Python"
print(text.center(2,"#"))
print(text.center(5, "*"))

Output

Python
Python

Reference: Python Official Docs