Editing astrotools

It is important to maintain some standards in astrotools. The goal is to keep it readable and stable. With than in mind, I shall provide some coding guidelines and then describe the structure of astrotools in detail to allow for its easy editing.

Actually, I will let Guido van Rossum (the father of Python) provide you with all the necessary coding guidelines, from naming conventions to code lay-out. You can find them in Guido’s Style Guide for Python Code.

Let me clear out an important aspect about Python modules. A module is a collection of reusable pieces of code, such as functions and classes. A piece of code in a module can use another piece within the same module or in another module, or it can be completely independent. The implications are that you can add a function:

  • that is completely self-contained and that does not interfere with anything else in astrotools
  • that makes use of other astrotools functions/classes
  • that makes use of other Python modules (e.g. numpy), in which case you need a command line to invoke such module (more on this below).

The order of things in astrotools

The module astrotools is broken down into five sections. From top to bottom in the code, they are described below.

I) Documentation: Contains general information about the contents of the module. This type of non-executable text (a.k.a. docstring) must always start and end with three apostrophes (which I like to call Melchior, Caspar, & Balthazar). This tells Python that the stuff within them is a string that can be called by the end user using Python help.

II) External Modules: Contains the Python commands used to invoke external Python modules —the famous “import” commands. Having them all in one location as opposed to inside the functions/classes where they are needed helps to avoid repetition (when more than one function/class needs to invoke the same external module) and to clearly see the external modules needed to use astrotools.

III) Public Functions: Organized alphabetically, these functions are meant to be accessible to end users. These functions have their own docstrings, surrounded by the three apostrophes, just like in Section I.

IV) Non-Public functions: Organized alphabetically, these functions are only used by other functions/classes within astrotools. As such, end users have no business accessing these. Python convention says non-public names should be preceded by double underscore. Technically, anyone can still access them, but Python code of conduct tells end users not to do it. These functions do not need docstrings, only commented (#) intro lines to explain their purpose and where they are used.

V) Public Classes: Organized alphabetically, these classes are meant to be accessible to end users. Just like with Public Functions, Public Classes have their own docstrings.

How to add a function/class to astrotools

  1. Download the latest version of astrotools from the GitHub repository into your computer.
  2. If your function/class needs to import an external module, check if it is already imported in Section II of astrotools. If not, add the command line to do so. Take as much advantage as you can of the modules already imported in astrotools before adding a new one. More external modules needed by astrotools means more requirements that end users will have to meet before having a fully functional astrotools module.
  3. Add your function/class in the appropriate location (alphabetically) within the relevant section (III or V) of astrotools.
  4. Your function/class MUST have a docstring, and it should follow reStructuredText syntax. No panic! It is very simple. For instance, if you want a word in italics, you write: *word*. Consult the reStructuredText User Reference for more information. In terms of format and contents, follow the example of docstrings of existing astrotools functions. Include in the docstring a description of all input parameters in your function/class, including their formats. Remember, the point of documenting your code is to allow others to easily use it and edit it in case you die. This is why I like to call the docstring “the death string”.
  5. If your function/class comes with a sub-function, that is, a side function that you wrote that is used by your main function/class, this means you are a good (object-oriented) programmer! The place to put it is Section IV of astrotools. Include in it intro comments about its purpose and where it is used. If you think that this sub-function could also be useful to end users, by all means add it in Section III instead. Just remember to write a docstring for it.
  6. Test the function/class that you added. Test extreme cases, test wrong input formats, test, test, test!
  7. Update astrotools.py in the GitHub repository with your new edited version.
  8. Inform the person that maintains the public documentation for astrotools so that it gets updated in bdnyc.org/astrotools.

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