How do I split the definition of a long string over multiple lines?

Question

I have a very long query. I would like to split it in several lines in Python. A way to do it in JavaScript would be using several sentences and joining them with a `+` operator (I know, maybe it's not the most efficient way to do it, but I'm not really concerned about performance in this stage, just code readability). Example: ``` var long_string = 'some text not important. just garbage to' + 'illustrate my example'; ``` I tried doing something similar in Python, but it didn't work, so I used `\` to split the long string. However, I'm not sure if this is the only/best/pythonicest way of doing it. It looks awkward. Actual code: ``` query = 'SELECT action.descr as "action", '\ 'role.id as role_id,'\ 'role.descr as role'\ 'FROM '\ 'public.role_action_def,'\ 'public.role,'\ 'public.record_def, '\ 'public.action'\ 'WHERE role.id = role_action_def.role_id AND'\ 'record_def.id = role_action_def.def_id AND'\ 'action.id = role_action_def.action_id AND'\ 'role_action_def.account_id = ' + accou…

Accepted Answer

Are you talking about multi-line strings? Easy, use triple quotes to start and end them.

```
s = """ this is a very
        long string if I had the
        energy to type more and more ..."""
```

You can use single quotes too (3 of them of course at start and end) and treat the resulting string `s` just like any other string.

NOTE: Just as with any string, anything between the starting and ending quotes becomes part of the string, so this example has a leading blank (as pointed out by @root45). This string will also contain both blanks and newlines.

I.e.,:

```
' this is a very
        long string if I had the
        energy to type more and more ...'
```

Finally, one can also construct long lines in Python like this:

```
 s = ("this is a very"
      "long string too"
      "for sure ..."
     )
```

which will not include any extra blanks or newlines (this is a deliberate example showing what the effect of skipping blanks will result in):

```
'this is a verylong string toofor sure ...'
```

No commas required, simply place the strings to be joined together into a pair of parenthesis and be sure to account for any needed blanks and newlines.

How do I split the definition of a long string over multiple lines?

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