Added callout for way to find methods in IPython #180
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Made a quick note about the object. tab completion feature in IPython and ? help function. I found this to be helpful in the classes in letting them know how they can fend for themselves more quickly with a feature that they might otherwise not find.
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Currently, the lesson is designed to not require the use of IPython / Jupyter. Would it be possible to reword this callout with other methods? E.g., the use of |
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Using dir() and help() in a regular old Python shell could roughly give the same effect, but it is much less interactive/elegant. Would it be enough to expand this with a further sentence? Such as: "As this is an IPython command, it only works in an IPython terminal or the Jupyter Notebook." |
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We do have one IPython specific callout, so I guess two isn't that different. Could you reword this callout so that it looks similar to the "Some IPython magic" callout on? I.e., starts with "If you’re using an IPython / Jupyter notebook,..." Then perhaps add "IPython" somewhere in the name of the callout, so people not using IPython can skip over it. |
Modified callout to emphasise this is an IPython feature.
| > with a full-stop then you can use tab completion (e.g. type `data.` and then press tab) | ||
| > to see a list of all methods that you can use on that object. After selecting one you | ||
| > can also add a question mark (e.g. `data.cumprod?`) and IPython will return an | ||
| > explanation of the method! |
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Specifically, the explanation is the output of help(data.cumprod). Maybe it would be good to mention that as it would tie in with the section on writing docstrings?
Added a note that: 1) help(data.cumprod) = data.cumprod? and 2) that this displays the function's docstring.
fixed quote-mark error in last commit
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This looks good, thanks! I will merge and remove the reference to docstring (as they have not learned about creating functions and docstrings at this point). |
Added callout for way to find methods in IPython
Made a quick note about the object. tab completion feature in IPython and ? help function. I found this to be helpful in the classes in letting them know how they can fend for themselves more quickly with a feature that they might otherwise not find.