Very different. help(obj) is designed to mine for docstrings inside of obj. obj might be an instance, function, module… pretty much everything is an object in Python (except syntax and keywords).

When you think of Objects (in general terms), think of a Container, meaning it has an inside and an outside. I’m not saying “shipping container” in case you’re thinking of Docker, but certain that’s an excellent example of a container and if you have no better container at hand, I’d recommend a shipping container as your paradigm Object.

dir(obj) is more like asking for a manifest i.e. a log of what’s in that container, meaning what names does it contain. dir(obj) → namespace is a good abstraction to carry around. To what extent does dir mine the class hierarchy for names? Does it follow the __mro__? I suggest these as follow-up questions.

I’ll often start a Python class for noobs with dir(__builtins__) just to give a sense of what the boot-up namespace is (what’s there the moment you’re in).

When you’re writing Python, don’t be stingy (overly ungenerous) about supplying docstrings. These are not multi-line comments meant for other readers of the source code. These are meant precisely for end users using the help( ) feature to extract some sense from your objects. Let them know you care.

By the way, if you want something other than a boring shipping container for your Container, I suggest you branch out to thinking about Polyhedrons (of which rectangular prisms are a subset). Having a vivid imagination is a big part of programming for a lot of people. As Object Oriented Programmers, we have no reason to neglecting “right brain” visualization capabilities. Polyhedrons then in turn supply raw material for thinking about data structures, databases, operations, groups, networks, graphs, poles, spin, equators, geodesics, global data, GIS/GPS, astronomy etc. etc.