What is the best way to handle command line arguments in Python?

The best way to handle command line arguments with Python is defopt. It works like magic. You write a function, add a proper docstring using any standard format (I use [numpy doc]), and see the magic

import defopt

def main(greeting, *, count=1):
    """Display a friendly greeting.

    :param str greeting: Greeting to display
    :param int count: Number of times to display the greeting
    """
    for _ in range(count):
        print(greeting)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    defopt.run(main)

You have:

• help string generation
• data type conversion
• default arguments
• zero boilerplate code

Magic!