Documentation: Docstrings

In simple terms, we can say that docstrings are documentation embedded in the source code. A docstring is basically a literal string, placed somewhere in the code to document that part of the logic.

Notice the emphasis on the word documentation. This is important because it's meant to represent explanation, not justification. Docstrings are not comments; they are documentation.

Purpose of docstrings

Docstrings are intended to provide documentation for a particular component (a module, class, method, or function) in the code that will be useful for other developers. The idea is that when other engineers want to use the component we're writing, they'll take a look at the docstring to understand how it's supposed to work, what the expected inputs and outputs are, and so on. For this reason, it is a good practice to add docstrings whenever possible.