Issue 33300: Bad usage example in id() DocString (original) (raw)

The DocString for id() in 3.5.x & 3.6.x seems to have an incorrect usage example, specifically id(obj, /).

This is present in 3.5.x & 3.6.x. It does not appear to be present in 2.7.x or 3.4.x.:

Python 3.6.4 (v3.6.4:d48eceb, Dec 19 2017, 06:54:40) [MSC v.1900 64 bit (AMD64)] on win32 Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.

help(id) Help on built-in function id in module builtins:

id(obj, /) Return the identity of an object.

This is guaranteed to be unique among simultaneously existing objects.
(CPython uses the object's memory address.)

It is supposed to be a function signature, similar to the syntax when you define your own function, rather than a usage example of calling the function.

In this case, the slash notation is described by PEP 457. It is supposed to indicate that “obj” is a positional-only parameter, and not a keyword parameter. If that is what you think is incorrect, perhaps you can suggest a place to explain the notation in Issue 21314.