Docstrings

When you work on a team or return to your own code after weeks or months, documentation becomes essential. Python provides docstrings, which are special strings that describe what a function does, what parameters it expects, and what it returns. Docstrings are written as the first statement in a function body using triple quotes, and Python stores them for tools and developers to access. Docstring Conventions While Python does not enforce a specific docstring format, several conventions are widely used in the industry. The Sphinx/reStructuredText style and NumPy style are particularly popular in data engineering. Here is a practical template that covers the most important information: Simple One-Line Docstrings Not every function needs extensive documentation. For simple functions with obv