Getting Help

The interpreter in python can be your best friend, both for experimentation and documentation about Python objects. All of the datatype examples should be run from a python interpreter.

How to get the python version without entering the interpreter:

$ python --version

How to enter the interpreter from a terminal/console window:

$ python

How to get help about an object or type (example, the int type). Hit ‘q’ to get out of the help in most python interpreters.

help(int)

Get a list of all module wide attributes, variables, methods, etc.

dir()

Note that the output from the dir statement is in the python pretty printed format. The pretty print format will always show a list (square brackets) and all attribute names will be string elements in the list.

Get a list of all attributes on an object or type (example, the int type)

dir(int)