Yes, when I taught "HtDP" in Python two years ago, this feature was handy. It
provide a more convenient way for recalling/looking up contract/purpose
statements right in the REPL than opening a search in a browser. If I remember
correctly, I think the IDE might have also done something smart with these,
like providing a popup hint with the function doc (or at least the first line)
when you typed the function name while editing a file. Here's a quick
interaction with the Python shell in IDLE:
>>> def f(x):
'''this is the first line
this is the second line of the doc
and so on'''
return 3+x
>>>f(
(at this point a text hint pops up with the following contents:
|-----------------------------
| (x)
| this is the first line
|-----------------------------
So, it worked very well with the design recipe if you put the contract as the
first line in the comment. Then for more detail, you use "help":
>>> help(f)
Help on function f in module __main__:
f(x)
this is the first line
of the doc
and so on
--- nadeem
On Jul 19, 2010, at 10:16 AM, Shriram Krishnamurthi wrote:
> Python apparently has a feature where you essentially put the
> contract/purpose in the text of a function, and when you type the
> function's name, it prints out that documentation. (It sounds like
> the docstrings of Common Lisp.)
>
> This came up on day 1, minute 15 of the TSRJ workshop.
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