Conversion to string: how do `s work?

[Chris Lasher]

I'm working my way through _Learning_Python_ 2nd ed., and I saw
something peculiar which is not explained anywhere in the text.

print " " + file + " size=" + `size`

The `s appear to somehow automagically convert the integer to a string
for concatenation. How does this work? Is this just a shortcut for
str(size)? Is it considered bad practice to use `s?

 

[Michael Hoffman]

The `s appear to somehow automagically convert the integer to a string
for concatenation. How does this work? Is this just a shortcut for
str(size)?

No, it's a shortcut for repr(size).

Is it considered bad practice to use `s?

Yes, please don't do it. I can't remember ever seeing it in production
code, so many people wouldn't even know what it was. And ' vs. ` is
confusing.

 

[Chris Lasher]

Ah, repr. Did not cross my mind. Good to see my suspicions about the
use of ` being poor practice were correct. "Explicit is better than
implicit."

Thanks for the reply.