


What is the difference between python `__str__` and `__repr__`?
Jul 09, 2025 am 02:12 AM__str__ is used for user readability, and __repr__ is used for debugging and development. 1.__str__ returns an easy-to-understand string representation, suitable for UI or log display, such as "$9.99"; 2.__repr__ provides a clear and reproducible string of objects, such as "Person(name='Alice', age=30)", for debugging or interactive shell; 3. If only __repr__ is defined, it can be used as an alternative when __str__ is needed, but otherwise does not hold true; 4. Best practice is to prioritize __repr__ to assist in debugging, and then define __str__ optimization display as needed.
When you're working with Python classes and want to control how your objects are represented as strings, you'll often come across __str__
and __repr__
. While they seem similar at first glance, they serve different purposes. Here's what you need to know.

__str__
is for the end user
The goal of __str__
is to return a human-readable string representation of an object. It's meant to be easy to understand, not necessarily something that can be used to recreate the object.
For example, if you have a class representing a date or a money value, __str__
might format it like "January 1, 2024"
or "$9.99"
— nice and clean for someone viewing it in a UI or log.

If you use functions like print(obj)
or str(obj)
, Python will call __str__
under the hood.
Here's a simple example:

class Person: def __init__(self, name, age): self.name = name self.age = age def __str__(self): return f"{self.name}, {self.age} years old" p = Person("Alice", 30) print(p) # Output: Alice, 30 years old
__repr__
is for developers and debugging
On the other hand, __repr__
is supposed to give an unambigious representation of the object — ideally one that could be used to recreate the object. Its output should be more detailed and precise, useful when you're debugging or logging.
If you're using the interactive Python shell and type a variable, or you call repr(obj)
or even __repr__()
, this is the method that gets called.
Back to our Person
example:
class Person: def __init__(self, name, age): self.name = name self.age = age def __repr__(self): return f"Person(name='{self.name}', age={self.age})" p = Person("Alice", 30) p # In the shell, this would show: Person(name='Alice', age=30)
You can think of __repr__
as something you'd write in code to recreate the object exactly.
What happens if only one is defined?
- If you define only
__repr__
and not__str__
, then__repr__
will be used as a fallback when__str__
is expected. - But if you only define
__str__
,__repr__
won't get automatically generated from that — the default__repr__
(which looks like<__main__.myclass object at></__main__.myclass>
) will still show up in places where__repr__
is needed.
So, best practice:
- Define
__repr__
for every class you create — it helps with debugging. - Define
__str__
if you want a nicer display for users or logs.
Summary
To recap:
- Use
__str__
when you want a pretty, readable string for display. - Use
__repr__
when you want something accurate and useful for debugging or recreating the object. - Define both if possible, especially
__repr__
.
Basically that's it.
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