How to convert exponential value to string format in python?

Question

I'm doing some calculations which give very small decimal numbers for example, 0.0000082

When I'm saving it in a variable, it changes into exponent form. I need the result as a string in the end. So, converting the result using str() is not possible because it keeps the e in the string. I need the string to have exactly 8 decimal places. Is there any way to do this while keeping the 8 digit precision intact?

Another example: 5.8e-06 should be converted to '0.00000580' The trailing zero in the final string is not important. I need the string to be used elsewhere. So, this shouldn't be done in the print() function.

Answer 1

The exponential notation is not an inherent property of the number (which is stored as a binary floating point value). It's just the default representation when converting the number to a string with str. You can specify your own formatting options if you convert the number to a string using the format function. Try something like this:

format(5.8e-06, '.8f')

The 8 in the format specifier tells it to use eight digits of precision, while the f requests it to be written as a plain decimal without exponential notation. You can read more about the format notations in the documentation.