string - Tabs in print are not consistent python

Question

I want to have real tabs in a print but only puts spaces. Eg:

 first:ThisIsLong         second:Short
 first:Short         second:ThisIsLong
 first:ThisIsEvenLonger         second:Short

How would i fix it so i can have all the firsts and all the seconds lined up. Eg:

 first:ThisIsLong         second:Short
 first:Short              second:ThisIsLong
 first:ThisIsEvenLonger   second:Short

Answer 1

You can use formatting to align the strings instead. For example, you can tell python that the first column should be 20 characters long, and the second should be 10, left aligned.

For example:

string_one = 'first:ThisIsLong'
string_two = 'second:Short'

print( '{:<20s} {:<10s}'.format(string_one, string_two) )

will print:

first:ThisIsLong     second:Short

The first formatting descriptor ({:<20s}) here is saying:

'<' left align, 20 at least 20 characters, s because it's a string