help() Method

The help() function in Python is used to display documentation about objects such as classes, functions, methods, and modules.

It’s a quick way to explore Python’s built-in objects or even your own custom classes.

Example 1: Getting Help on a Built-in Class

# Use help() to get information about the str class
help(str)

Output:

Help on class str in module builtins:
 
class str(object)
 |  str(object='') -> str
 |  str(bytes_or_buffer[, encoding[, errors]]) -> str
 |
 |  Create a new string object from the given object.

Example 2: Getting Help on a Function

help(len)

Output:

Help on built-in function len in module builtins:
 
len(obj, /)
    Return the number of items in a container.

Example 3: Using help() on a User-defined Class

class Person:
    """Represents a person with a name and age."""
 
    def __init__(self, name, age):
        self.name = name
        self.age = age
 
help(Person)

This displays the class docstring and details about its methods.

Example 4: Using help() Without Arguments

help()

This opens Python’s interactive help utility, where you can type the name of any object or module to get documentation.

Notes:

• help() relies on docstrings (""" ... """) for displaying documentation.
• Writing clear docstrings for your functions and classes makes help() more useful.

👉 Next tutorial: Python super() Function