When __repr__() is called?

Question

print OBJECT calls OBJECT.__str__(), then when OBJECT.__repr__() is called? I see that print OBJECT calls OBJECT.__

Answer 1

repr(obj)

calls

obj.__repr__

the purpose of __repr__ is that it provides a 'formal' representation of the object that is supposed to be a expression that can be evaled to create the object. that is,

obj == eval(repr(obj))

should, but does not always in practice, yield True

I was asked in the comments for an example of when obj != eval(repr(obj)).

class BrokenRepr(object):
    def __repr__(self):
        return "not likely"

here's another one:

>>> con = sqlite3.connect(':memory:')
>>> repr(con)
''
>>>