Tried Ruby (or, "what Python *really* needs" or "perldoc!")

[Jason Earl]

"msoulier" <msoulier at gmail.com> writes:

>> I have found the Python sidebar VERY helpful:
>
> Personally, I can't use local docs on my desktop as they may not be
> the same version of the docs for the Python distro running on the
> server that I'm deploying on. I usually go to python.org and use the
> wayback machine to look at the old docs for the release that I'm on.

Why don't you instead install the info version of the Python
documentation on your server.  Then you can do "info Python2.3-lib"
and have at it.  If you are hacking in emacs then this is about as
slick a documentation system as you could ask for, but even if you use
some other editor info is a much better documentation tool than man.

> But, if Python would match Perl for docs available on the
> command-line, then I'd have it all at my fingertips. I simply don't
> understand why this is not being done. When I'm coding in C, I use
> the manpages on the remote host so that I know the docs are correct
> for my target. Why can't I do that in Python? It's yet another thing
> that my Perl-using coworkers point out as a Python weakness.

Python does match (and exceed) Perl for docs available on the command
line.  Once you get used to using the excellent info-based Python
documentation using man is downright primitive.

Jason