mirror of https://github.com/python/cpython
115 lines
4.2 KiB
ReStructuredText
115 lines
4.2 KiB
ReStructuredText
.. highlightlang:: rest
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Style guide
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===========
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The Python documentation should follow the `Apple Publications Style Guide`_
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wherever possible. This particular style guide was selected mostly because it
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seems reasonable and is easy to get online.
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Topics which are either not covered in Apple's style guide or treated
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differently in Python documentation will be discussed in this
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document.
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Use of whitespace
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-----------------
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All reST files use an indentation of 3 spaces; no tabs are allowed. The
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maximum line length is 80 characters for normal text, but tables, deeply
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indented code samples and long links may extend beyond that. Code example
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bodies should use normal Python 4-space indentation.
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Make generous use of blank lines where applicable; they help grouping things
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together.
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A sentence-ending period may be followed by one or two spaces; while reST
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ignores the second space, it is customarily put in by some users, for example
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to aid Emacs' auto-fill mode.
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Footnotes
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---------
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Footnotes are generally discouraged, though they may be used when they are the
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best way to present specific information. When a footnote reference is added at
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the end of the sentence, it should follow the sentence-ending punctuation. The
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reST markup should appear something like this::
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This sentence has a footnote reference. [#]_ This is the next sentence.
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Footnotes should be gathered at the end of a file, or if the file is very long,
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at the end of a section. The docutils will automatically create backlinks to
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the footnote reference.
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Footnotes may appear in the middle of sentences where appropriate.
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Capitalization
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--------------
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.. sidebar:: Sentence case
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Sentence case is a set of capitalization rules used in English
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sentences: the first word is always capitalized and other words are
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only capitalized if there is a specific rule requiring it.
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Apple style guide recommends the use of title case in section titles.
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However, rules for which words should be capitalized in title case
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vary greaty between publications.
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In Python documentation, use of sentence case in section titles is
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preferable, but consistency within a unit is more important than
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following this rule. If you add a section to the chapter where most
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sections are in title case you can either convert all titles to
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sentence case or use the dominant style in the new section title.
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Sentences that start with a word for which specific rules require
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starting it with a lower case letter should be avoided in titles and
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elsewhere.
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.. note::
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Sections that describe a library module often have titles in the
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form of "modulename --- Short description of the module." In this
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case, the description should be capitalized as a stand-alone
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sentence.
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Many special names are used in the Python documentation, including the names of
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operating systems, programming languages, standards bodies, and the like. Most
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of these entities are not assigned any special markup, but the preferred
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spellings are given here to aid authors in maintaining the consistency of
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presentation in the Python documentation.
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Other terms and words deserve special mention as well; these conventions should
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be used to ensure consistency throughout the documentation:
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CPU
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For "central processing unit." Many style guides say this should be
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spelled out on the first use (and if you must use it, do so!). For
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the Python documentation, this abbreviation should be avoided since
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there's no reasonable way to predict which occurrence will be the
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first seen by the reader. It is better to use the word "processor"
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instead.
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POSIX
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The name assigned to a particular group of standards. This is always
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uppercase.
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Python
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The name of our favorite programming language is always capitalized.
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reST
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For "reStructuredText," an easy to read, plaintext markup syntax
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used to produce Python documentation. When spelled out, it is
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always one word and both forms start with a lower case 'r'.
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Unicode
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The name of a character coding system. This is always written
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capitalized.
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Unix
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The name of the operating system developed at AT&T Bell Labs in the early
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1970s.
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.. _Apple Publications Style Guide: http://developer.apple.com/mac/library/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/APStyleGuide/APSG_2009.pdf
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