# ipython

Published: 08 December 2020, 18:00

[IPython](https://ipython.org/) is an alternative interactive shell for Python. It has syntax highlighting, powerful introspection and autocomplete, searchable cross-session history, and much more. Run `%quickref` in IPython to get a quick reference on useful commands and shortcuts. Some of our favorite ones:

+ `obj?` - print short object info, including signature and docstring.
+ `obj??` - same as above but also shows the object source code if available.
+ `!cd my_project/` - execute a shell command.
+ `%timeit list(range(1000))` - run a statement many times and show the execution time statistics.
+ `%hist` - show the history for the current session.
+ `%run` - run a file in the current session.