Finding Python help...

[James Kew]

"Steve Cassidy" <steve.cassidy at mq.edu.au> wrote in message
news:3E88310F.6090709 at mq.edu.au...
> Another problem, how do I find out what methods are defined on a type
> like list? Again,  I end up in the tutorial trying to find relevant docs.

The list methods are documented in the Library Reference, in Section 2.2.6,
Sequence Types (http://www.python.org/doc/current/lib/typesseq.html) -- and
deeper in Section 2.2.6.4, Mutable Sequence Types
(http://www.python.org/doc/current/lib/typesseq-mutable.html).

I too found this enormously frustrating when I was learning Python: lists
are fundamental, and are usef first and often by beginners, but I found it
very hard to find formal documentation on their methods. It seems
counterintuitive that they be documented in the Library Reference -- I kept
getting waylaid by the Language Reference, which is terrifying for
beginners -- and even when you hit the Library Reference they're buried deep
within it.

I don't know how to fix this, but it'd help if the Python Tutorial was less
authoritative in the "More On Lists" section
(http://www.python.org/doc/current/tut/node7.html#SECTION0071000000000000000
00) -- "here are all of the methods of list objects" -- and instead gave an
overview and pointed to the correct location in the Library Reference for
more information.

James