When I try to print an instance of a class, I get an output like this:
>>> class Test():
... def __init__(self):
... self.a = 'foo'
...
>>> print(Test())
<__main__.Test object at 0x7fc9a9e36d60>
How can I make it so that the print will show something custom (e.g. something that includes the a attribute value)? That is, how can I can define how the instances of the class will appear when printed (their string representation)?
See How can I choose a custom string representation for a class itself (not instances of the class)? if you want to define the behaviour for the class itself (in this case, so that print(Test) shows something custom, rather than <class __main__.Test> or similar). (In fact, the technique is essentially the same, but trickier to apply.)
>>> class Test:
... def __repr__(self):
... return "Test()"
... def __str__(self):
... return "member of Test"
...
>>> t = Test()
>>> t
Test()
>>> print(t)
member of Test
The __str__ method is what gets called happens when you print it, and the __repr__ method is what happens when you use the repr() function (or when you look at it with the interactive prompt).
If no __str__ method is given, Python will print the result of __repr__ instead. If you define __str__ but not __repr__, Python will use what you see above as the __repr__, but still use __str__ for printing.