---
type: challenge
title: "The Formatter"
xp: 50
duration: 25
difficulty: 2
---

# The Formatter

> **[INCOMING — Mission Control, Earth]**
>
> Cadet, raw numbers like `9.99` print fine, but `29.970000000000002`
> doesn't. Real programs *format* numbers. f-strings can do it inline:
>
> ```python
> price = 9.99
> f"${price:.2f}"   # → "$9.99"
> ```
>
> The `:.2f` is a *format spec*: two decimal places, fixed-point.
>
> Implement `format_receipt(price, qty)` that returns a 3-line string:
>
> ```
> Item price: $<price>
> Quantity: <qty>
> Total: $<price * qty>
> ```
>
> Both prices use 2-decimal formatting. Use `\n` to join lines.
>
> [END TRANSMISSION]

## Your Task

Open `starter/starter.py`. Compute `total`, then return a single
f-string with `\n` separators.

## Objectives

- `format_receipt(9.99, 3)` returns the exact 3-line string
- Prices format to 2 decimal places
- Works for any positive `price` and `qty`