In Python, the str() and repr() functions are used to obtain string representations of objects. While they may seem similar at first glance, there are some differences in how they behave. Both of the functions can be helpful in debugging or printing useful information about the object.
Python str()
In the given example, we are using the str() function on a string and floating values in Python.
Python3
s = 'Hello, Geeks.'print (str(s))print (str(2.0/11.0)) |
Output:
Hello, Geeks. 0.181818181818
Python repr()
In the given example, we are using the repr() function on a string and floating values in Python.
Python3
s = 'Hello, Geeks.'print (repr(s))print (repr(2.0/11.0)) |
Output:
'Hello, Geeks.' 0.18181818181818182
str() vs repr() in Python Examples
From the above output, we can see if we print a string using the repr() function then it prints with a pair of quotes and if we calculate a value we get a more precise value than the str() function.
Python __str__() and __repr__() with a Built-In Class
In this example, we are creating a DateTime object of the current time and we are printing it into two different formats.
str() displays today’s date in a way that the user can understand the date and time. repr() prints an “official” representation of a date-time object (means using the “official” string representation we can reconstruct the object).
Python3
import datetimetoday = datetime.datetime.now()# Prints readable format for date-time objectprint(str(today))# prints the official format of date-time objectprint(repr(today)) |
Output :
2016-02-22 19:32:04.078030 datetime.datetime(2016, 2, 22, 19, 32, 4, 78030)
How to make them work for our own defined classes?
A user-defined class should also have a __repr__() if we need detailed information for debugging. And if we think it would be useful to have a string version for users, we create a __str__() function. In this example, We have created a class Complex which has two instance variables real and imag. We are creating custom __repr__() and __str__() methods in the class.
Python3
# Python program to demonstrate writing of __repr__ and# __str__ for user defined classes# A user defined class to represent Complex numbersclass Complex: # Constructor def __init__(self, real, imag): self.real = real self.imag = imag # For call to repr(). Prints object's information def __repr__(self): return 'Rational(%s, %s)' % (self.real, self.imag) # For call to str(). Prints readable form def __str__(self): return '%s + i%s' % (self.real, self.imag) # Driver program to test abovet = Complex(10, 20)# Same as "print t"print (str(t))print (repr(t)) |
Output :
10 + i20 Rational(10, 20)
Difference between Python str() and Python repr()
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Points |
str() |
repr() |
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Return Value |
Returns a human-readable string representation of the object |
Returns an unambiguous string representation of the object |
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Usage |
Used for creating user-friendly output and for displaying the object as a string |
Used for debugging and development purposes to get the complete information of an object |
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Examples |
str(123) returns ‘123’ |
repr(123) returns ‘123’ |
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str(‘hello’) returns ‘hello’ |
repr(‘hello’) returns “‘hello’” |
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str([1, 2, 3]) returns ‘[1, 2, 3]’ |
repr([1, 2, 3]) returns ‘[1, 2, 3]’ |
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str({‘name’: ‘John’, ‘age’: 30}) returns “{‘name’: ‘John’, ‘age’: 30}” |
repr({‘name’: ‘John’, ‘age’: 30}) returns “{‘name’: ‘John’, ‘age’: 30}” |
