What is the difference between __getattribute__ and __getattr__ methods in Python and how do they work when accessing object attributes?

The methods __getattribute__ and __getattr__ in Python are used to intercept access to an object's attributes, but they work differently:

• __getattribute__(self, name) is called for any access to an attribute of the object. It is the most general interceptor, and if overridden, you need to carefully call the base method to avoid recursion.

• __getattr__(self, name) is called only if the attribute named name is not found in the usual way (i.e., not present in the object's dictionary or in the classes).

Example:

class Example:
    def __getattribute__(self, name):
        print(f"__getattribute__ called for {name}")
        return super().__getattribute__(name)

    def __getattr__(self, name):
        print(f"__getattr__ called for {name}")
        return f"Default value for {name}"

obj = Example()
obj.existing = 42
print(obj.existing)  # Calls __getattribute__, returns 42
print(obj.missing)   # Calls __getattribute__, then __getattr__, returns a string

Thus, __getattribute__ is a universal interceptor, while __getattr__ is a fallback for missing attributes.