Python Function Reference [closed]

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There're tons of apps/widgets for PHP function reference and even for Ruby but I'm shocked to find there is nothing available for a 开发者_运维知识库popular language like Python (besides the official online documentation ofcourse).

Is there really not a single handy reference widget/app available for Python? I have 'Pocket Reference' book, but a dashboard widget would be so handy!

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Python libraries have (or should have) built in documentation through docstrings. Also, python code is (mostly) very readable, and reading the source (.py or even .c) is actually the preferred way for many developers to get the information they're looking for, especially since some corner cases may not even be documented.

I've caught myself looking through the source now and then, as if it's a natural step in looking up functionality, either because I'm curious how they solve the problem, or because I reckon it's faster than googling obscure problems and reading SO questions.

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So it's (often) not very pretty at all, but it's possible that the pydoc command line tool, or pydoc in webserver mode, could help you here. Here's an article on pydoc to help you get started

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1. The interactive interpreter is a fantastic reference tool. dir(<identifier) lists all the attributes of a module, class, or function help(<identifier>) gives you help about same.

2. pydoc at the command line is another great tool. It does for Python what man gives you for commands, plus it even includes a web server you can start up to see the documentation in your browser.

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I develop on Mac OS.

I have all the Python documentation directly available through a desktop app.

The app is called Safari. I bookmark http://docs.python.org/index.html

It's available as a desktop app.