# Documenting Python

Fred L. Drake, Jr.

PythonLabs
E-mail: fdrake@acm.org

Release 2.1.1
July 20, 2001

### Abstract:

The Python language has a substantial body of documentation, much of it contributed by various authors. The markup used for the Python documentation is based on LATEX and requires a significant set of macros written specifically for documenting Python. This document describes the macros introduced to support Python documentation and how they should be used to support a wide range of output formats.

This document describes the document classes and special markup used in the Python documentation. Authors may use this guide, in conjunction with the template files provided with the distribution, to create or maintain whole documents or sections.

- Contents
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Directory Structure
- 3 LATEX Primer
  - 3.1 Syntax
  - 3.2 Hierarchical Structure
- 4 Document Classes
- 5 Special Markup Constructs
  - 5.1 Markup for the Preamble
  - 5.2 Meta-information Markup
  - 5.3 Information Units
  - 5.4 Showing Code Examples
  - 5.5 Inline Markup
  - 5.6 Module-specific Markup
  - 5.7 Library-level Markup
  - 5.8 Table Markup
  - 5.9 Reference List Markup
  - 5.10 Index-generating Markup
- 6 Special Names
- 7 Processing Tools
  - 7.1 External Tools
  - 7.2 Internal Tools
- 8 Future Directions
  - 8.1 Structured Documentation
  - 8.2 Discussion Forums
- About this document ...