[FIXED] How to print instances of a class using print()?

Issue

When I try to print an instance of a class, I get an output like this:

>>> class Test():
...     def __init__(self):
...         self.a = 'foo'
...
>>> print(Test())
<__main__.Test object at 0x7fc9a9e36d60>

How can I can define the printing behaviour (or the string representation) of a class and its instances? For example, referring to the above code, how can I modify the Test class so that printing an instance shows the a value?

Solution

>>> 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.

Answered By - Chris Lutz

Answer Checked By - Senaida (PHPFixing Volunteer)