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__', '__contains__', '__delattr__', '__delitem__', '__delslice__', '__doc__', '__eq__', '__format__', '__ge__', '__getattribute__', '__getitem__', '__getslice__', '__gt__', '__hash__', '__iadd__', '__imul__', '__init__', '__iter__', '__le__', '__len__', '__lt__', '__mul__', '__ne__', '__new__', '__reduce__', '__reduce_ex__', '__repr__', '__reversed__', '__rmul__', '__setattr__', '__setitem__', '__setslice__', '__sizeof__', '__str__', '__subclasshook__', 'append', 'count', 'extend', 'index', 'insert', 'pop', 'remove', 'reverse', 'sort']

or:

dir(my_list)[36:]

gets:

['append', 'count', 'extend', 'index', 'insert', 'pop', 'remove', 'reverse', 'sort']

Now, in the documentation of Python information can be found about these functions, but I would like to get info about these functions in the terminal/command-line. How should this be done?

score 81 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 25 '11 at 08:21

81

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

answered Mar 25 '11 at 08:21

TyrantWave

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4

Where does it get the info from though? – Pithikos Feb 24 '15 at 14:20
1

@Pithikos more specifically – a lot of it is generated automatically based on declarations – but the details however are generated from comments that follow the docstring format (i.e. triple quotes, first-line after declaration). You can apply it to pretty much anything that is in the namespace; modules, classes, functions, etc. – conner.xyz Aug 13 '15 at 17:13
The questions seems to be asking, how can I get this info in a variable... I may have misinterpreted, but that's my particular need. I found the answer here https://stackoverflow.com/a/713143/93910 – Sanjay Manohar Aug 12 '23 at 21:36

score 12 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 25 '11 at 08:21

12

Try

help(my_list)

to get built-in help messages.

answered Mar 25 '11 at 08:21

Olli

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Andreas Chatzivasileiadis · Answer 3 · 2020-04-01T09:58:02.780

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

edited Apr 01 '20 at 09:58

answered May 13 '19 at 17:23

Andreas Chatzivasileiadis

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wat does it means to use pydoc? What format should be applied? – MUY Belgium Apr 01 '20 at 07:30

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 08 '21 at 05:03

2

help(functionname) Can use this to print the Additional Info About the function you specified in help(..)

answered Mar 08 '21 at 05:03

Abhyu08

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score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Mar 29 '17 at 04:33

1

Or

help(list.append)

if you're generally poking around.

answered Mar 29 '17 at 04:33

DetDev

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python: how to get information about a function?

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