Strings and Representations
Austin Bingham Robert Smallshire
@austin_bingham @robsmallshire
austin@[Link] rob@[Link]
Presenter
str() repr()
functions for making
string representations
from Python objects
which call the methods
__str__() __repr__()
The built-in function
repr()
produces an unambiguous string
representation of an object.
Point2D(x=42, y=69)
repr()
! Exactness is more important than human-friendliness
! Suited for debugging
! Includes identifying information
! Generally best for logging
repr() is for deve
lopers
The result of repr()
should generally contain
more information than
the result of str()
fo r c l i e nts
str() is
As a rule, you should
always write a repr()
for your classes
r e p r ( )
d ef a u l t
The h e l p f u l
v e r y
is not
The built-in function
str()
produces a readable, human-friendly
representation of an object
Remember - str r a m m e r
() Not p r o g
is also the strin o r i e n t e d
g
constructor
By default, str()
simply calls repr()
But repr() does not call str()
repr() is used when showing
elements of a collection
The special method
__format__()
invoked by [Link]()
>>> obj = MyClass()
>>> "{:XYZ}".format(obj)
class MyClass:
def __format__(self, f):
# Return a string representation of self
# formatted according to the formatting
# options in format specifier f
# ...
>>> obj = MyClass()
>>> "{:XYZ}".format(obj)
Replacement fields
{field_name:format_spec}
Optional format specification
class MyClass: after colon
def __format__(self, f):
# Return a string representation of self
# formatted according to the formatting
# options in format specifier f
# ...
The standard library module
reprlib
supports alternative
implementations of repr()
• limits otherwise
excessive string length
• useful for large
collections
The standard library function
[Link]()
is a drop-in replacement for repr()
The standard library class
[Link]
• implements the main functionality of reprlib
• supports customisation through subclassing
• [Link]
[Link]
r
an instance use
d
by Python and
debuggers
The built-in functions
ascii()
ord() chr()
The built-in function
ascii()
replaces non-ASCII characters with escape sequences
The built-in function
chr()
Converts an integer Unicode
codepoint to a single character string
The built-in function
ord()
converts a single character to its
integer Unicode codepoint
Duck Tails
Bigger Isn't Always Better
Duck Tails
Sometimes the
repr() of an object will
be shorter than
its str()
Strings and Representations
• for humans!
print(obj)
an object • fallback to repr()
str(obj) __str__(self)
repr(obj) __repr__(self)
"{:f}".format(obj)
• unambiguous
__format__(self, f)
• precise
• include type
• for developers
• fallback to str(
)
import reprlib
[Link](obj)
s = ascii(string)
from reprlib import Repr
i = ord(c)
class MyRepr(Repr):
# ... c = chr(i)
