8 Powerful Ways to Concatenate Strings in Python

In Python there are multiple ways to concatenate strings, summarized here for reference.

Plus operator

First method uses the + operator:

>> a, b = 'hello', ' world'
>>> a + b
'hello world'

Comma operator

Second method uses a comma, typically with print:

>> a, b = 'hello', ' world'
>>> print(a, b)
hello  world

Note: using a comma creates a tuple when not printed.

>> a, b
('hello', ' world')

Direct literals

Third method concatenates literals directly, with or without spaces:

print('hello' ' world')
print('hello''world')

Percent formatting

Fourth method uses the % operator, the historic way to format strings:

print('%s %s' % ('hello', 'world'))

format() method

Fifth method uses the format function:

print('{}{}'.format('hello', ' world'))

join() method

Sixth method uses the built‑in join method on a sequence:

print('-'.join(['aa', 'bb', 'cc']))

f‑string

Seventh method uses f‑strings (Python 3.6+), an evolution of % and format:

>> aa, bb = 'hello', 'world'
>>> f'{aa} {bb}'
'hello world'

Multiplication operator

Eighth method repeats a string with the * operator:

>> aa = 'hello '
>>> aa * 3
'hello hello hello '

Summary

For a small number of strings , the + operator is recommended; if performance matters and you are on Python 3.6+, use f‑strings for better readability.

For a large number of strings , prefer join or f‑strings, depending on the Python version and readability needs.

Reference: “You don’t know Python | Secrets of string concatenation” – https://juejin.im/post/5b350624f265da5954426713