文档¶
Readability is a primary focus for Python developers, in both project and code documentation. Following some simple best practices can save both you and others a lot of time.
项目文档¶
A README file at the root directory should give general
information to the users and the maintainers. It should be raw text or
written in some very easy to read markup, such as
reStructuredText and Markdown. It should contain a few
lines explaining the purpose of the project or the library (without
assuming the user knows anything about the project), the url of the
main source for the software, and some basic credit information. This
file is the main entry point for readers of the code.
An INSTALL file is less necessary with python. The installation
instructions are often reduced to one command, such as pip install
module or python setup.py install and added to the README
file.
A LICENSE file should always be present and specify the license under which the
software is made available to the public.
A TODO file or a TODO section in README should list the
planned development for the code.
A CHANGELOG file or section in README should compile a short
overview of the changes in the code base for the latest versions.
项目发布¶
Depending on the project, your documentation might include some or all of the following components:
- A introduction should show a very short overview of what can be done with the product, using one or two extremely simplified use cases. This is the thirty-second pitch for your project.
- A tutorial should show some primary use cases in more detail. The reader will follow a step-by-step procedure to set-up a working prototype.
- An API reference is typically generated from the code (see docstrings). It will list all publicly available interfaces, parameters, and return values.
- Developer documentation is intended for potential contributors. This can include code convention and general design strategy of the project.
Sphinx¶
Sphinx is far and away the most popular python documentation tool. Use it. It converts reStructuredText markup language into a range of output formats including HTML, LaTeX (for printable PDF versions), manual pages, and plain text.
There is also great, free hosting for your Sphinx docs: Read The Docs. Use it. You can configure it with commit hooks to your source repository so that rebuilding your documentation will happen automatically.
注解
Sphinx is famous for its API generation, but it also works well for general project documentation. This Guide is built with Sphinx and is hosted on Read The Docs
reStructuredText¶
Most Python documentation is written with reStructuredText. It’s like Markdown with all the optional extensions built in.
The reStructuredText Primer and the reStructuredText Quick Reference should help you familiarize yourself with its syntax.
代码文档的建议¶
Comments clarify code and begin with a hash (#).
In Python, docstrings describe modules, classes, and functions:
def square_and_rooter(x):
"""Returns the square root of self times self."""
...
In general, follow the comment section of PEP 0008 (the “Python Style Guide”).
注释代码片段¶
Do not use triple-quote strings to comment code. This is not a good practice, because line-oriented command-line tools such as grep will not be aware that the commented code is inactive. It is better to add hashes at the proper indentation level for every commented line. Your editor probably has the ability to do this easily, and it is worth learning the comment/uncomment toggle. (e.g. ctrl-v on Vim)
文档字符串和魔术¶
Some tools use docstrings to embed more-than-documentation behavior, such as unit test logic. Those can be nice, but you won’t ever go wrong with vanilla “here’s what this does.”
文档字符串与块注释¶
These aren’t interchangeable. For a function or class, the leading comment block is a programmer’s note. The docstring describes the operation of the function or class:
# This function slows down program execution for some reason.
def square_and_rooter(x):
"""Returns the square root of self times self."""
...
参见
Further reading on docstrings: PEP 0257
其他工具¶
You might see these in the wild. Use Sphinx.
- Pycco
- Pycco is a “literate-programming-style documentation generator” and is a port of the node.js Docco. It makes code into a side-by-side HTML code and documentation.
- Ronn
- Ronn builds unix manuals. It converts human readable textfiles to roff for terminal display, and also to HTML for the web.