PrettyTable Exercises

What you'll learn

• How to create formatted tables using PrettyTable
• Adding rows and columns to tables
• Customizing table appearance with titles
• Displaying data in a clean, organized format

:information_source: Info :computer: Activity Type: Coding Exercise
⏱️ Estimated Time: 30-40 minutes
:emoji: Work Type: Individual

Getting Started

1. Click the link here
2. Make a copy of the Colab Notebook into your Google Drive
3. Import the package by running:
   python

   from prettytable import PrettyTable
   

:bulb: Make sure to run the import statement first before attempting any exercises!

Question One: Creating a Sports Day Medal Table

⏱️ Time: 15-20 minutes

Let's create a table showing medal counts for each house in Telebort Sports Day.

Target Table:

Houses	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Gryffindor	5	4	5	14
Ravenclaw	7	5	3	15
Hufflepuff	6	5	4	15
Slytherin	2	6	8	16

Step One: Create the table

1. Create a new table named medals using PrettyTable()
2. Print the empty table to verify it's created

python

medals = PrettyTable()
print(medals)

Step 2: Add column headers

1. Use the field_names property to add column headers
2. Copy and use this list for the field names:

python

medals.field_names = ["Houses", "Gold", "Silver", "Bronze", "Total"]
print(medals)

Expected output:

text

+-----------+------+--------+--------+-------+

|   Houses  | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
+-----------+------+--------+--------+-------+
+-----------+------+--------+--------+-------+

tip The table now shows headers but no data rows yet!

Step 3: Add data rows

1. Use add_row() method to add each house's medal data
2. Add each row using the following data:

medals.add_row(["Gryffindor", 5, 4, 5, 14])
medals.add_row(["Ravenclaw", 7, 5, 3, 15])
medals.add_row(["Hufflepuff", 6, 5, 4, 15])
medals.add_row(["Slytherin", 2, 6, 8, 16])
print(medals)

Expected output:

+-----------+------+--------+--------+-------+

|   Houses  | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
+-----------+------+--------+--------+-------+

| Gryffindor|   5  |    4   |    5   |   14  |
| Ravenclaw |   7  |    5   |    3   |   15  |
| Hufflepuff|   6  |    5   |    4   |   15  |
| Slytherin |   2  |    6   |    8   |   16  |
+-----------+------+--------+--------+-------+

Step 4: Add a title

1. Set the title property to add a heading to your table
2. Use the exact title shown below:

medals.title = "Telebort Sports Day: Number of Medals For Each House"
print(medals)

Expected output:

+------------------------------------------------------+
| Telebort Sports Day: Number of Medals For Each House |
+---------------------+------+--------+--------+-------+

|      Houses         | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
+---------------------+------+--------+--------+-------+

|      Gryffindor     |   5  |    4   |    5   |   14  |
|      Ravenclaw      |   7  |    5   |    3   |   15  |
|      Hufflepuff     |   6  |    5   |    4   |   15  |
|      Slytherin      |   2  |    6   |    8   |   16  |
+---------------------+------+--------+--------+-------+

:bulb: Notice how the title appears centered at the top of the table!

Question 2: Creating a Student Count Table

⏱️ Time: 15-20 minutes

In this exercise, you'll learn an alternative way to build tables using the add_column() method.

Target Table:

sql

Number of Students in Each Classes
+----------+--------+--------+-------+

| Classes  |  Male  | Female | Total |
+----------+--------+--------+-------+

| Class 1  |    9   |   12   |   21  |
| Class 2  |   10   |    6   |   16  |
| Class 3  |    8   |   15   |   23  |
+----------+--------+--------+-------+

Step One: Create the table

1. Create a new table named students
2. Print the empty table

python

students = PrettyTable()
print(students)

Step 2: Add columns with data

1. Use add_column(field_name, data) to add each column
2. Add columns in order using this data:

python

# Column 1: Classes
students.add_column("Classes", ["Class 1", "Class 2", "Class 3"])

# Column 2: Male students
students.add_column("Male", [9, 10, 8])

# Column 3: Female students
students.add_column("Female", [12, 6, 15])

# Column 4: Total students
students.add_column("Total", [21, 16, 23])

print(students)

Expected output:

text

+---------+------+--------+-------+

| Classes | Male | Female | Total |
+---------+------+--------+-------+

| Class 1 |  9   |   12   |   21  |
| Class 2 |  10  |    6   |   16  |
| Class 3 |  8   |   15   |   23  |
+---------+------+--------+-------+

tip With add_column(), you add all data for one column at once, unlike add_row() where you add one row at a time!

Step 3: Add a title

1. Set the title for the table
2. Print the final result

students.title = "Number of Students in Each Class"
print(students)

Expected output:

+---------------------------------+
| Number of Students in Each Class|
+---------+------+--------+-------+

| Classes | Male | Female | Total |
+---------+------+--------+-------+

| Class 1 |  9   |   12   |   21  |
| Class 2 |  10  |    6   |   16  |
| Class 3 |  8   |   15   |   23  |
+---------+------+--------+-------+

Troubleshooting Tips

Common Issues:

1. ImportError: Make sure you've installed prettytable: !pip install prettytable
2. Table not displaying properly: Check that you're using print() to display the table
3. Alignment issues: PrettyTable automatically handles alignment, but make sure your data types are consistent

Need Help?

• Review the code examples carefully
• Make sure to run each step in order
• Check that variable names match exactly (case-sensitive)

Submission

:warning: Warning Important: Before submitting, ensure you have:

• :white_check_mark: Completed both Question 1 and Question 2
• :white_check_mark: Tested that your tables display correctly
• :white_check_mark: Saved your Colab notebook

:link: Submit your exercise here

:information_source: Info :bulb: Submission Tip: Take screenshots of your output tables to include with your submission if required!