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The documentation is beautifully written and perfect for learning, but it doesn't support the quick-fire referencing I, and I presume the other detractors, have
by testbro 14y ago
The documentation is beautifully written and perfect for learning, but it doesn't support the quick-fire referencing I, and I presume the other detractors, have grown to expect.
Contrast the first Google result for "python dictionary" [1] and "java hashmap" [2]. The Python result tells you about every data structure and does so in a story, the Java one gives you what you want and little more.
[1] : http://docs.python.org/2/tutorial/datastructures.html http://docs.python.org/2/tutorial/datastructures.html
[2] : http://docs.oracle.com/javase/6/docs/api/java/util/HashMap.html http://docs.oracle.com/javase/6/docs/api/java/util/HashMap.h...
- takluyver 14y agoThe first result is the tutorial - the second result is the comparable API documentation, although unfortunately you need to find the right section of the page after clicking through. Like the Java doc, it has a prose introduction followed by a list of methods. Overall, I think you're right that the Python docs aren't optimal for quick fire referencing. I think we tend to use some form of introspection to examine methods, function signatures and docstrings. For instance, I keep IPython open and use tab completion and the 'foo?' syntax to find the details I need.