[Python-Dev] What if we didn't have repr? (original) (raw)

Fernando Perez fperez.net at gmail.com
Fri May 24 05:04:42 CEST 2013


On Tue, 21 May 2013 06:36:54 -0700, Guido van Rossum wrote:

Actually changing str or repr is out of the question, best we can do is discourage makingbthem different. But adding a protocol for pprint (with extra parameters to convey options) is a fair idea. I note that Nick sggested to use single-dispatch generic functions for this though. Both have pros and cons. Post design ideas to python-ideas please, not here!

Just in case you guys find this useful, in IPython we've sort of created this kind of 'extended repr protocol', described and illustrated here with examples:

http://nbviewer.ipython.org/url/github.com/ipython/ipython/raw/master/ examples/notebooks/Custom%20Display%20Logic.ipynb

It has proven to be widely used in practice.

Cheers,

f



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