>>> class Test:
... def __repr__(self):
... return "Test()"
... def __str__(self):
... return "member of Test"
...
>>> t = Test()
>>> t
Test()
>>> print(t)
member of Test
The __str__
method is what gets called happens when you print it, and the __repr__
method is what happens when you use the repr()
function (or when you look at it with the interactive prompt).
If no __str__
method is given, Python will print the result of __repr__
instead. If you define __str__
but not __repr__
, Python will use what you see above as the __repr__
, but still use __str__
for printing.