Docu Documentation

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Architecture Overview ​

This section provides detailed information about Docu's architecture, design decisions, and internal workings.

Design Philosophy ​

Docu was designed with the following principles in mind:

  1. Simplicity: Keep the core functionality simple and focused
  2. Flexibility: Support different documentation styles and output formats
  3. Extensibility: Make it easy to add new features and customizations
  4. Proximity: Documentation should be close to the code it describes

High-Level Architecture ​

At a high level, Docu consists of the following components:

  1. Parser: Extracts documentation from Python files

    • AST-based parsing for accurate code analysis
    • Special #/ comment extraction

  2. Processors: Process and structure the extracted documentation

    • DocStyle parsers for different documentation styles
    • Type information extraction

  3. Generators: Generate documentation in different formats

    • Markdown generator
    • HTML generator with template support

  4. Templates: Customizable templates for HTML output

    • Template management system
    • Multiple built-in templates

  5. CLI: Command-line interface for easy usage

Data Flow ​

The general flow of data through Docu is as follows:

  1. Python file is parsed to extract code structure and comments
  2. Documentation is extracted from special #/ comments
  3. Documentation is processed according to the specified style
  4. Structured documentation is generated in the requested format
  5. Output is either returned as a string or saved to a file

Key Components ​

Here's a more detailed look at the key components:

Parser Component ​

  • Uses Python's AST module to parse Python code
  • Extracts documentation comments with the #/ prefix
  • Identifies code structure (classes, functions, methods)
  • Extracts type annotations and return types

Processing Component ​

  • Handles different documentation styles (Google, NumPy, Sphinx)
  • Structures documentation into consistent format
  • Associates documentation with code elements

Generation Component ​

  • Converts structured documentation to output formats
  • Handles template rendering for HTML output
  • Manages file output when saving documentation

Next Steps ​

For more detailed information about specific aspects of Docu's architecture, see: