Formatting python docstrings for dicts
I generally use the Google docstring style, so a dictionary parameter would look like:
def func(a_dict):
"""Some function to do something to a dictionary.
Args:
a_dict (dict of str: int): Some mapping, I guess?
"""
...
A function that takes **kwargs
(note: this is not quite the same as having a dictionary parameter), would look like:
def func(**kwargs):
"""Some function to do stuff to arbitrary keyword arguments.
Args:
**kwargs: Arbitrary keyword arguments.
Keyword Args:
<kwarg_name> int: A description
<kwarg_name_2> str: Another description
<...>
"""
...
If there are specific parameters that should be present (e.g. your key1
), they should be separate, not rolled into **kwargs
.
In Python 3.x, you can also use function annotations:
def func(a_dict: dict):
"""Some function to do something to a dictionary."""
...
From Python 3.5, you can be even more explicit using typing
:
from typing import Mapping
def func(a_dict: Mapping[str, int]):
"""Some function to do something to a dictionary."""
...
For those using PyCharm: You can configure your default docstring formats in:
Preferences -> Tools -> Python Integrated Tools -> Docstrings
as of version 2019
the allowed options are: Plain, Epytext, reStructuredText, NumPy, Google. This functionality will automatically add a docstring skeleton once you've typed three double quotes "
and hit enter
.