Python | repr method

Built-in Functions

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Documentation

schedule Jul 1, 2022

Last updated

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Examples

The printable representation of a string has a '' wrapped around it:


        
        
            
                
                
                    x = "hello"
print(repr(x))
                
            
            'hello'

The repr(obj) method comes in handy when you need to escape special characters such as the new line character (\n):


        
        
            
                
                
                    x = "\nhello\n"
print(repr(x))
                
            
            '\nhello\n'

This is contrast to printing the string directly:


        
        
            
                
                
                    x = "\nhello\n"
print(x)
                
            
            
hello

Internally, the repr(obj) function is actually calling the __repr__(self) method of the object. We can implement this method for our own classes:


        
        
            
                
                
                    class Person:
    

       def __init__(self, name):  
              self.name = name

       def __repr__(self):
              return repr("My name is " + self.name)

person_alex = Person("alex")
print(repr(person_alex))
                
            
            'My name is alex'

If you're using Jupyter notebook, evaluating the object directly outputs the __repr__ like so:


        
        
            
                
                
                    person_alex
                
            
            'My name is alex'

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