python: how to get information about a function?

Question

When information about a type is needed you can use:

my_list = []
dir(my_list)

gets:

[\'__add__\', \'__class__\', \'__conta         


        

Answer 1

Try

help(my_list)

to get built-in help messages.

Answer 2

Or

help(list.append)

if you're generally poking around.

Answer 3

You can use pydoc.

Open your terminal and type python -m pydoc list.append

The advantage of pydoc over help() is that you do not have to import a module to look at its help text. For instance python -m pydoc random.randint.

Also you can start an HTTP server to interactively browse documentation by typing python -m pydoc -b (python 3)

For more information python -m pydoc

Answer 4

In python: help(my_list.append) for example, will give you the docstring of the function.

>>> my_list = []
>>> help(my_list.append)

    Help on built-in function append:

    append(...)
        L.append(object) -- append object to end