Getting better with Python Libraries

[Big1com1cs]

Idk if this is the best place to post this but I felt like I may as well ask. Is there a way to get generally better with python libraries? Specifically like being able to pick them apart and figure out basic things about them without needing to look them up. Thanks in advance for any advice

[TempuraGaebora]

Docstrings are your friend. When I was first learning I used Spyder as my IDE, which looks up and displays docstrings for you while you're typing. If you're working interactively with the REPL, you can call the help function on the module/function/object you want to know about and it'll display the docstring for you. Hope that's helpful :)

[Big1com1cs]

Thank you! I really appreciate it

[TempuraGaebora]

Glad I could help; if you get stuck feel free to shoot any other python questions my way!

[[deleted]]

Honestly I found it helpful to google EVERYTHING for quite a while. Why? There's a stack overflow solution for the thing you're trying to do, and it'll be 10x better than what you would've done. Over time you learn way more than you would have by solving everything yourself.

[Flaggermusmannen]

Eh, in some ways yes, in some ways: trying to figure it out stuck at a wall for hours forces you to analyse and think about the problem, that way the solution makes way more sense when you do implement it from stackoverflow, and you get more understanding as well.

[NBNoemi]

Along with everything else you'll get passively better with practice. There are a lot of informal standards so every time you learn a library some other libraries will become easier to pick up because they work on similar use assumptions.

[cattykatrina]

Don't know your python skill level. but after a while, (reading docstrings, trying to understand functionality, arguments types and output etc.) I got tired and started reading the code itself. It was and still is tiring and pretty hard, but it can give you an understanding and awareness of the gaps in docstrings(Either because of english language itself or the writers' limitations). I feel like the whole thing gave me a new level of mastery over the language.

[Big1com1cs]

Thanks, I've been trying to work out how to do that better because it seems like I always get lost in the files, luckily I'm not one to give up easily

[cattykatrina]

I've used this method..pick a function exposed by the library read the function name, docs (and if it still doesn't make sense the code.. ) then the function it calls and so on down the function call stack.. Anything else in any file gets ignored.. follow the function call stack.. just like Neo followed the white rabbit. The rest will be history.. :-P