readline

In ipython; there is a nice tab completion available among other nice features. How does that work ?

import readline
except ImportError:
    print "Unable to load readline module."
else:
    import rlcompleter
    readline.parse_and_bind("tab: complete")

>>> class myclass:
...    def function(self):
...       print "my function"
...
>>> class_instance = myclass()
>>> class_instance.<TAB>
class_instance.__class__   class_instance.__module__
class_instance.__doc__     class_instance.function
>>> class_instance.f<TAB>unction()