StringBuilder and Format in Visual Basic

Building aligned console output without a thousand concatenations.

Imports System.Text

Dim items = {"espresso", "croissant", "tonic"}
Dim prices = {3.2, 2.75, 4.0}

Dim menu As New StringBuilder()
menu.AppendLine("== cafe menu ==")
For i = 0 To items.Length - 1
    menu.AppendLine($"{items(i),-12}{prices(i),7:F2}")
Next
Console.Write(menu.ToString())

Console.WriteLine(String.Format("mean price: {0:F2}", prices.Average()))
Console.WriteLine($"dearest: {prices.Max():F2}")

How it works

1. StringBuilder grows text cheaply; AppendLine adds a row at a time.
2. {items(i),-12} left-pads a column; parentheses index arrays in VB.
3. String.Format is interpolation's older cousin, placeholders by number.

Keywords and builtins used here

• Dim
• For
• Imports
• New
• Next
• String
• To

The run, in numbers

Lines

14

Characters to type

405

Tokens

103

Three-star pace

80 tpm

At the three-star pace of 80 tokens a minute, this run takes about 77 seconds.

Type this snippet

Step 3 of 3 in Variables & strings, step 3 of 29 in Language basics.

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