Difference between `print(9)` and `print(str(9))`

Question

What is the difference between print(9) and print(str(9)) in Python when the output is the same for both functions?

What's a difference between `1+4` and `2+3` when output is same for both statements? — Łukasz Rogalski, Sep 05 '16 at 06:50
If you were wondering why `type(9)` and `type((9))` both give the same answer (`int`) as well: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/12876177/why-do-tuples-with-only-one-element-get-converted-to-strings — StefanS, Sep 05 '16 at 06:55
@StefanS I think you missed the `str` part from OP’s code. — poke, Sep 05 '16 at 06:55

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 05 '16 at 06:52

2

From the documentation:

All non-keyword arguments are converted to strings like str() does

answered Sep 05 '16 at 06:52

Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams

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Dimitris Fasarakis Hilliard · Accepted Answer · 2016-09-05T07:01:01.843

2

print will always first try to call __str__ on the object you give it. In the first case the __str__ of the int instance 9 is '9'.

In the second case, you first explicitly call str on 9 (which calls its __str__ and yields '9'). Then, print calls '9''s __str__ which, if supplied with a string instance, returns it as it is resulting in '9' again.

So in both cases, in the end print will print out similar output.

edited Sep 05 '16 at 07:01

answered Sep 05 '16 at 06:52

Dimitris Fasarakis Hilliard

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Thanks@Jim these clarifies my doubt. – Dhar Dibya Sep 13 '16 at 14:35

kiner_shah · Answer 3 · 2018-07-05T15:05:27.400

1

print(str(9))
print(9)

Output:

9
9

There is no change in output. But if we check the data type by executing,

print(type(str(9)))
print(type(9))

Then we get output as,

<class 'str'> 
<class 'int'>

So, you can see, the types are different but the output is same.

edited Jul 05 '18 at 15:05

answered Sep 05 '16 at 06:56

kiner_shah

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No, it is an attempt to clarify the confusion! :-) – kiner_shah Sep 05 '16 at 06:58

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Sep 05 '16 at 07:08

In simple terms:

An integer is a variable that specifically holds a numerical value. Whereas a string is a variable that can hold a range of characters (including numbers).

print(9) says it should print the NUMERICAL value 9

print(str(9)) says it should print the character 9,

So if you were to do additions on both types for instance:

9 + 9 will always return 18

str(9) + str(9) will always return 99

Difference between `print(9)` and `print(str(9))`

4 Answers4