Why can repr function use repr() in itself when defining a class?(Python)

Question

class Link:

    def __repr__(self):
        if self.rest is not Link.empty:
            rest_repr = ', ' + repr(self.rest)
        else:
            rest_repr = ''
        return 'Link(' + repr(self.first) + rest_repr + ')'

I wonder :Is the repr function a built-in funciton in Python even though I am defining the __repr__ function?

Answer: the repr() is a bulit-in function. we can use the repr() in the __repr__ function

Yes, [repr](https://docs.python.org/3/library/functions.html#repr) is a built-in function. — khelwood, Aug 18 '22 at 11:48
It's not calling `repr` on itself - it's using `repr` on the value stored in the `first` member. — Mathias R. Jessen, Aug 18 '22 at 11:49
`repr(self)` would be an infinite recursion, but not on other values. — deceze, Aug 18 '22 at 11:57

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 18 '22 at 11:51

    def __repr__(self):
        if self.rest is not Link.empty:
            rest_repr = ', ' + repr(self.rest)

Look at this piece of code, what do you notice?

Exactly: you are using repr(self.rest), which is equivalent to self.rest.__repr__().

In other words you aren't calling repr on an instance of Link, but just on an attribute of it. So you aren't calling Link.__repr__ into its body, don't worry.

Why can __repr__ function use repr() in itself when defining a class?(Python)

1 Answers1

Why can repr function use repr() in itself when defining a class?(Python)