Exception string output no longer includes type in Basilisp 0.4.0

[ikappaki]

Hi,

I've noticed a change in how exceptions are printed in Basilisp 0.4.0 compared to 0.3.8: the exception type is no longer included when converting an exception to a string.

in 0.3.8:

> basilisp version
Basilisp 0.3.8
> basilisp repl
basilisp.user=> (str (Exception "abc"))
"Exception('abc')"

in 0.4.0:

> basilisp version
Basilisp 0.4.0
> (str (Exception "abc"))
"abc"

I believe this change is most likely related to #1238.

The new behavior aligns more closely with Python's str behavior:

python
Python 3.11.4 (tags/v3.11.4:d2340ef, Jun  7 2023, 05:45:37) [MSC v.1934 64 bit (AMD64)] on win32
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> str(Exception("abc"))
'abc'
>>> repr(Exception("abc"))
"Exception('abc')"

However, it now diverges from Clojure’s behavior:

> clj
Clojure 1.12.0
user=> (str (Exception. "abc"))
"java.lang.Exception: abc"

Personally, I find Clojure’s approach more informative, it makes it clearer that you're looking at an exception, not just a plain string. That context can be important when debugging or logging.

If this change is intentional to match Python, it might be worth documenting in the Python differences section, since it changes how exception objects communicate intent in logs and output? Happy to update the documentation.

Thanks

[chrisrink10]

I would guess this is most likely related to the change in #1238.

I don't think I specifically intended one way or another to display exceptions in a certain way. I agree with your point that it may be useful to see the exception type in a string representation, although in such cases you could simply use repr. I am open to either specifically overriding the str behavior for Exceptions or adding documentation.