[python] Understanding repr( ) function in Python

The feedback you get on the interactive interpreter uses repr too. When you type in an expression (let it be expr), the interpreter basically does result = expr; if result is not None: print repr(result). So the second line in your example is formatting the string foo into the representation you want ('foo'). And then the interpreter creates the representation of that, leaving you with double quotes.

Why when I combine %r with double-quote and single quote escapes and print them out, it prints it the way I'd write it in my .py file but not the way I'd like to see it?

I'm not sure what you're asking here. The text single ' and double " quotes, when run through repr, includes escapes for one kind of quote. Of course it does, otherwise it wouldn't be a valid string literal by Python rules. That's precisely what you asked for by calling repr.

Also note that the eval(repr(x)) == x analogy isn't meant literal. It's an approximation and holds true for most (all?) built-in types, but the main thing is that you get a fairly good idea of the type and logical "value" from looking the the repr output.