Double or single quotes?

In Python, string literals can be enclosed in single quotes (') or double quotes ("). Which one is better? Most people chose to use double quotes, it is tempting to stick to what the majority is doing and use double quotes. Not me, I mix two styles of quoting to increase readability. I apply one of Edward Tufte principles:

Maximize the data-to-ink ratio

When quoting I maximize the data-to-pixel ratio. The best style of quoting is the one which minimize the number of pixels:

'Hello World'

"Hello World"

Here the single quote is better. We should always use single quotes? No. Consider the following case:

'O\'Neil'

"O'Neil"

Here double quotes are better, it removes the backslash, it’s more readable. That’s what the Python interpreter is doing when printing string representation: If the string doesn’t contain quotes, it will enclose this string with single quotes. If the string contains single quotes but no double quotes, it will enclose the string with double quotes. And if the string contains both single and double quotes, it will use single quotes.

This simple algorithm does not always produce the nicest string:

'\'"\''

"'\"'"

The Python interpreter will use the first one, even if the second is better.

If my writing sparked any ideas, questions, or insights, I would love to hear from you.
Email me at henry@precheur.org I read and respond to each email.