In Python, "Magic Methods" (also known as Dunder methods, short for "double underscore") are special methods that allow you to define how objects of your class behave with built-in functions and operators. While init handles object initialization, str and repr are crucial for defining an object's string representation.

str: Returns a "user-friendly" string representation of an object, primarily for human readability (e.g., when print() is called).
repr: Returns an "official" string representation of an object, primarily for developers, often aiming to be unambiguous and allow recreation of the object.

class Book:
    def init(self, title, author, year):
        self.title = title
        self.author = author
        self.year = year

    def str(self):
        return f'"{self.title}" by {self.author} ({self.year})'

    def repr(self):
        return f"Book('{self.title}', '{self.author}', {self.year})"

Creating an instance

my_book = Book("The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", "Douglas Adams", 1979)

str is used by print()

print(my_book)

repr is used by the interpreter or explicitly with repr()

print(repr(my_book))

In collections, repr is used by default

bookshelf = [my_book, Book("Pride and Prejudice", "Jane Austen", 1813)]
print(bookshelf)

Output:

"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams (1979)
Book('The Hitchhiker\'s Guide to the Galaxy', 'Douglas Adams', 1979)
[Book('The Hitchhiker\'s Guide to the Galaxy', 'Douglas Adams', 1979), Book('Pride and Prejudice', 'Jane Austen', 1813)]

#Python #MagicMethods #DunderMethods #OOP #Classes #PythonTips #CodeExamples #StringRepresentation #ObjectOrientation #Programming

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By: @DataScienceQ ✨