We have all googled for specific in-built method's documentation whenever we get stuck while coding in any programming language. But what if we need to check too many functions for a small programming assignment/requirement? It gets clumsy, and this is where the help method comes into the picture.
In this post, we will understand the help method in Python and how it can be used effectively to get all the information about specific objects in Python.
What is the help method?
It is a method that calls the built-in Python system to fetch details regarding a specific object. This object is passed as a parameter to the help method.
Syntax of help method:
help(object)
The help method takes in maximum one argument and returns information about that argument(argument is generally the name of any Python keyword, function or object). The object refers to the entity on which more information/help is needed. In case this parameter is not provided (it is optional), it takes the user to the interactive Python interpreter.
We will look at three different use cases of the help method namely:
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Using help by passing an object as an argument,
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Using help by passing a string as an argument,
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Using help without passing any argument.
1. Passing an object as an argument
The argument passed is not a string, but an object or a data structure about which more information is required, and once it is passed to the help method, information about it is displayed on the console.
Below are a few examples demonstrating the same:
2. Passing a string as an argument
When the argument passed to the help method is a string, that string is checked for in modules, functions, classes, keywords and documentation topics.
If the string matches any one of these, the help page for that string is displayed on the console.
3. Passing no parameters at all
When no parameter is passed to the help method, Python's interactive help system starts up on the console. Here, the user can enter the name of the entity on which they need more details (This could be a function, module, class, or any other Python object)
4. Quitting the Python interpreter
Once no argument is passed to the help method, it starts in the interactive mode and if the keyword quit is typed on the console, and the enter key is clicked, it closes the help tab.
help > quit
Conclusion
In this post, we saw the significance of the help method in Python along with its usage. Don't forget to try using the help method on your own system.
