Welcome to the Treehouse Community

Want to collaborate on code errors? Have bugs you need feedback on? Looking for an extra set of eyes on your latest project? Get support with fellow developers, designers, and programmers of all backgrounds and skill levels here with the Treehouse Community! While you're at it, check out some resources Treehouse students have shared here.

Looking to learn something new?

Treehouse offers a seven day free trial for new students. Get access to thousands of hours of content and join thousands of Treehouse students and alumni in the community today.

Start your free trial

Python Introducing Lists Using Lists Continental

Posted by Nancy Nyabuti
Nancy Nyabuti
5,298 Points

Why use the '+' sign in the print function instead of a comma

Is there a specific reason as to why we use the '+' sign in the print function instead of the comma that we've been using all along?

Essentially the output is the same, but when checking the challenge task it displays 'fail'

continents.py 
continents = [
    'Asia',
    'South America',
    'North America',
    'Africa',
    'Europe',
    'Antarctica',
    'Australia',
]
# Your code here

for continent in continents: 
    print("* ", continent)

2 Answers

Steven Parker
Steven Parker
231,269 Points
Steven Parker
Steven Parker
231,269 Points

You can do it either way, but be aware that when you have more than one argument (using a comma), the function automatically adds a space between the items. But when concatenating into a larger single string (with the + operator), the strings are used exactly as provided.

So while you need to provide your own space when concatenating, having a space in the string with the asterisk creates too much space when using two arguments. Remove the extra space and it will pass.

Nancy Nyabuti
Nancy Nyabuti
5,298 Points
Nancy Nyabuti
Nancy Nyabuti
5,298 Points

Alright, Thank you!!