Removing Trailing Zeros from Float Formatting

When displaying floating-point numbers, it's often desirable to remove any trailing zeros to achieve a more concise representation. This article explores how to format floats in Python without these unnecessary zeros.

The %g Format Specifier

One approach to eliminating trailing zeros is to use the %g format specifier. This specifier ensures that:

• Trailing zeros in the significant (non-zero) portion of the number are removed.
• The decimal point is omitted if there are no remaining digits after it.

Example:

>>> print('%g' % 3.140)
3.14

Alternative Methods with Python 2.6

In Python 2.6 and later, alternative formatting methods are available:

• With the .format() method:

>>> '{0:g}'.format(3.140)
3.14

• With f-strings (Python 3.6 ):

>>> f'{3.140:g}'
3.14

Explanation

According to the Python documentation for the format() specifiers, the %g format specifier is defined as follows:

"Remove insignificant trailing zeros and the decimal point if there are no remaining digits following it."

This behavior aligns with the desired outcome of removing trailing zeros for a more compact float representation.