On Sun, Sep 22, 2013 at 7:25 PM, Terry Reedy <tjre...@udel.edu> wrote:
> On 9/22/2013 10:04 PM, Guido van Rossum wrote: > > If I had the final word, I'd recommend using the current docstrings as >> the .rst contents and replacing the docstrings with the 1-2 line >> function descriptions from the PEP, e.g.: >> >> * median(data) -> median (middle value) of data, taking the >> average of the two middle values when there are an even >> number of values. >> >> But omitting the signature proper, and replacing "->" with "Returns" or >> "Returns the". E.g. >> >> def median(data): >> """Returns the median (middle value) of data, taking the >> average of the two middle values when there are an even >> number of values. >> """ >> ... >> >> I'd personally also rewrite them all so that the first line of the >> docstring is a phrase that can stand by itself, as I describe in PEP 8, >> but this is used only sporadically in the stdlib. >> > > 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. Applied to the above. > > def median(data): > """Return the median (middle value) of data. > > Use the average of the two middle values when > > there are an even number of values. > """ > Glad you like it. I still do, too, but I've given up hope to convince all core developers to stick to this style. :-( > ('Return' rather than 'Returns' is the current convention.) > That's actually a religious argument which in the stdlib takes no strict position -- a quick grep shows that both are used, although 'Return' is more frequent by a 5-to-1 margin. IIRC in the Java world you *have* to use 'Returns', but I don't buy the argument from nit-picky grammarians that leads to this rule. (It's something about the documentation not being a command. But English is more flexible than that.) -- --Guido van Rossum (python.org/~guido)
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