Extra space in the first line when use textwrap.indent()

Question

sample_text = '''
        The textwrap module can be used to format text for output in
        situations where pretty-printing is desired.  It offers
        programmatic functionality similar to the paragraph wrapping
        or filling features found in many text editors.
    '''
dedented_text = textwrap.dedent(sample_text)
wrapped = textwrap.fill(dedented_text, width=50)
final = textwrap.indent(wrapped, '> ')

print('Quoted block:\n')
print(final)

output is:

>  The textwrap module can be used to format text
> for output in situations where pretty-printing is
> desired.  It offers programmatic functionality
> similar to the paragraph wrapping or filling
> features found in many text editors.

Just trying to understand why is there an extra space at the first line in the beginning?

Answer 1

Take a look at repr(sample_text):

'\n        The textwrap module can be used to format text for output in\n        situations where pretty-printing is desired.  It offers\n        programmatic functionality similar to the paragraph wrapping\n        or filling features found in many text editors.\n    '

Notice the \n at the beginning?

To achieve your desired output, you have to escape it. Put \ at the beginning of the string:

sample_text = '''\
    The textwrap module can be used to format text for output in
    situations where pretty-printing is desired. It offers
    programmatic functionality similar to the paragraph wrapping
    or filling features found in many text editors.
'''