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What is the difference between __str__ and __repr__?

What is the difference between __str__ and __repr__ in Python?

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Casebash Avatar asked Sep 17 '09 04:09

Casebash


People also ask

What is the difference between STR and repr?

The difference between str() and repr() is: The str() function returns a user-friendly description of an object. The repr() method returns a developer-friendly string representation of an object.

What is repr () and str () in Python?

Now if you go by the official python documentation – the __str__ is used to find the “informal”(readable) string representation of an object whereas __repr__ is used to find the “official” string representation of an object.

What is the purpose of defining the functions __ str __ and __ repr __ within a class how are the two functions different?

Summary. Both __str__ and __repr__ functions return string representation of the object. The __str__ string representation is supposed to be human-friendly and mostly used for logging purposes, whereas __repr__ representation is supposed to contain information about object so that it can be constructed again.

What is __ str __ in Python?

The __str__ method in Python represents the class objects as a string – it can be used for classes. The __str__ method should be defined in a way that is easy to read and outputs all the members of the class. This method is also used as a debugging tool when the members of a class need to be checked.


2 Answers

Alex summarized well but, surprisingly, was too succinct.

First, let me reiterate the main points in Alex’s post:

  • The default implementation is useless (it’s hard to think of one which wouldn’t be, but yeah)
  • __repr__ goal is to be unambiguous
  • __str__ goal is to be readable
  • Container’s __str__ uses contained objects’ __repr__

Default implementation is useless

This is mostly a surprise because Python’s defaults tend to be fairly useful. However, in this case, having a default for __repr__ which would act like:

return "%s(%r)" % (self.__class__, self.__dict__) 

would have been too dangerous (for example, too easy to get into infinite recursion if objects reference each other). So Python cops out. Note that there is one default which is true: if __repr__ is defined, and __str__ is not, the object will behave as though __str__=__repr__.

This means, in simple terms: almost every object you implement should have a functional __repr__ that’s usable for understanding the object. Implementing __str__ is optional: do that if you need a “pretty print” functionality (for example, used by a report generator).

The goal of __repr__ is to be unambiguous

Let me come right out and say it — I do not believe in debuggers. I don’t really know how to use any debugger, and have never used one seriously. Furthermore, I believe that the big fault in debuggers is their basic nature — most failures I debug happened a long long time ago, in a galaxy far far away. This means that I do believe, with religious fervor, in logging. Logging is the lifeblood of any decent fire-and-forget server system. Python makes it easy to log: with maybe some project specific wrappers, all you need is a

log(INFO, "I am in the weird function and a is", a, "and b is", b, "but I got a null C — using default", default_c) 

But you have to do the last step — make sure every object you implement has a useful repr, so code like that can just work. This is why the “eval” thing comes up: if you have enough information so eval(repr(c))==c, that means you know everything there is to know about c. If that’s easy enough, at least in a fuzzy way, do it. If not, make sure you have enough information about c anyway. I usually use an eval-like format: "MyClass(this=%r,that=%r)" % (self.this,self.that). It does not mean that you can actually construct MyClass, or that those are the right constructor arguments — but it is a useful form to express “this is everything you need to know about this instance”.

Note: I used %r above, not %s. You always want to use repr() [or %r formatting character, equivalently] inside __repr__ implementation, or you’re defeating the goal of repr. You want to be able to differentiate MyClass(3) and MyClass("3").

The goal of __str__ is to be readable

Specifically, it is not intended to be unambiguous — notice that str(3)==str("3"). Likewise, if you implement an IP abstraction, having the str of it look like 192.168.1.1 is just fine. When implementing a date/time abstraction, the str can be "2010/4/12 15:35:22", etc. The goal is to represent it in a way that a user, not a programmer, would want to read it. Chop off useless digits, pretend to be some other class — as long is it supports readability, it is an improvement.

Container’s __str__ uses contained objects’ __repr__

This seems surprising, doesn’t it? It is a little, but how readable would it be if it used their __str__?

[moshe is, 3, hello world, this is a list, oh I don't know, containing just 4 elements] 

Not very. Specifically, the strings in a container would find it way too easy to disturb its string representation. In the face of ambiguity, remember, Python resists the temptation to guess. If you want the above behavior when you’re printing a list, just

print("[" + ", ".join(l) + "]") 

(you can probably also figure out what to do about dictionaries.

Summary

Implement __repr__ for any class you implement. This should be second nature. Implement __str__ if you think it would be useful to have a string version which errs on the side of readability.

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moshez Avatar answered Sep 28 '22 20:09

moshez


My rule of thumb: __repr__ is for developers, __str__ is for customers.

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Ned Batchelder Avatar answered Sep 28 '22 20:09

Ned Batchelder