[Python-Dev] Best practice for documentation for std lib (original) (raw)

Guido van Rossum guido at python.org
Mon Sep 23 16:56:00 CEST 2013

On Mon, Sep 23, 2013 at 12:57 AM, Larry Hastings <larry at hastings.org> wrote:

On 09/23/2013 03:44 AM, Guido van Rossum wrote:

On Sun, Sep 22, 2013 at 7:25 PM, Terry Reedy <tjreedy at udel.edu> wrote:

I am gradually changing Idle docstrings, though only Idle developers will ever see them. Writing a 60 char summary forces a clear understanding of the function. Glad you like it. I still do, too, but I've given up hope to convince all core developers to stick to this style. :-( ... Argument Clinic to the rescue? Since the last time this subject came up, Clinic has started enforcing a summary line in docstrings. I didn't realize it had to be 60 columns though, should I add that? Is the entire docstring supposed to be 60 columns max?

I think 60 is just a guideline. In stdlib .py source code I want it not to extend beyond the 79th column (see recent PEP 8 argument). For a typical class, where the docstring is indented 4 spaces, that leaves 72 characters for the summary line (including a final period!). For a method it's 68 due to the extra indent.

FWIW I also prefer having the summary line on the same line as the opening """:

def foo(): """This is the summary.

This is the rest.
"""

p.s. status update: AC is done enough to be worth considering checking in. Now I have to finish the PEP and write the documentation.

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