Python for Data Analysis, 3rd Edition

Appendix B. More on the IPython System

In Chapter 2 we looked at the basics of using the IPython shell and Jupyter notebook. In this appendix, we explore some deeper functionality in the IPython system that can either be used from the console or within Jupyter.

B.1 Terminal Keyboard Shortcuts

IPython has many keyboard shortcuts for navigating the prompt (which will be familiar to users of the Emacs text editor or the Unix bash shell) and interacting with the shell’s command history. Table B-1 summarizes some of the most commonly used shortcuts. See Figure B-1 for an illustration of a few of these, such as cursor movement.

Table B-1. Standard IPython keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shortcut	Description
Ctrl-P or up-arrow	Search backward in command history for commands starting with currently entered text
Ctrl-N or down-arrow	Search forward in command history for commands starting with currently entered text
Ctrl-R	Readline-style reverse history search (partial matching)
Ctrl-Shift-V	Paste text from clipboard
Ctrl-C	Interrupt currently executing code
Ctrl-A	Move cursor to beginning of line
Ctrl-E	Move cursor to end of line
Ctrl-K	Delete text from cursor until end of line
Ctrl-U	Discard all text on current line
Ctrl-F	Move cursor forward one character
Ctrl-B	Move cursor back one character
Ctrl-L	Clear screen

Figure B-1. Illustration of some keyboard shortcuts in the IPython shell

Note that Jupyter notebooks have a largely ...