Getting Started with Humanize

To begin using the humanize library, you first need to install it via Python's package manager, pip:

pip3 install humanize

After installation, you should import the necessary libraries to successfully follow along with the tutorial. You will need getsize() from the os library to determine file sizes, datetime for date manipulations, and the humanize library itself.

from os.path import getsize

import datetime as dt

import humanize as h

Now that everything is set up, let’s dive into making large numbers more digestible.

Making Large Numbers Readable

Consider the number 1034503576643. It can be challenging to quickly determine whether this figure is closer to a billion or a trillion. The humanize library addresses this issue by formatting the number for better clarity.

One way to achieve this is by inserting commas using the intcomma function:

big_num = 1034503576643

human_big_num_comma = h.intcomma(big_num)

print(human_big_num_comma)

The output will be 1,034,503,576,643, which is significantly easier to read than the original format. Additionally, you can express this number in a more natural language format with the intword function:

human_big_num = h.intword(big_num)

print(human_big_num)

This yields 1.0 trillion.

Working with DateTime

The date format 2022/9/6 (YYYY/MM/DD) can be confusing compared to the more straightforward Sep 06 2022. The humanize library simplifies this with the naturaldate function:

date = dt.date(2022, 9, 6)

human_date = h.naturaldate(date)

print(human_date)

This returns Sep 06 2022. Alternatively, if you only want the month and day, you can use the naturalday function:

human_day = h.naturalday(date)

print(human_day)

This will output Sep 06.

Interpreting Duration

Just like with dates, durations can also be made more human-friendly using the naturaltime function:

current_time = dt.datetime.now()

few_days_before = dt.timedelta(days=3, hours=23, minutes=40)

past_time = current_time - few_days_before

human_time = h.naturaltime(past_time)

print(human_time)

The result will be 3 days ago, which is instantly comprehensible.

File Size Understanding

Suppose you have a file size of 278. The question arises—what unit does this refer to? Bytes, kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes? The naturalsize function helps clarify this:

file_size = getsize("./candidates.csv")

print(file_size) # Before humanization

print(h.naturalsize(file_size)) # After humanization

The output will convert 278 into 278 Bytes.

Scientific Notation and Fractions

Scientific notation is useful in many scenarios. You can easily convert numbers into this format using the scientific function:

value = 2304355

scientific_notation = h.scientific(value)

print(scientific_notation) # Without precision

scientific_notation = h.scientific(value, precision=5)

print(scientific_notation) # With precision

This will produce two outputs: 2.30 x 10⁶ and 2.30436 x 10⁶ respectively.

For fractional representation, use the fractional function:

float_value = 0.4646

fraction = h.fractional(float_value)

print(fraction)

The result is 105/226, a neat solution to a complex calculation.

Multi-Language Support

All the previous examples are in English, but the humanize library can support other languages like French and Russian. To enable internationalization (i18n), activate the desired language:

_t = h.i18n.activate("fr")

h.naturaltime(dt.timedelta(seconds=3))

This results in il y a 3 secondes, translating to 3 seconds ago in English.