docs(python): use more ergonomic syntax in select/with_columns where possible

docs/getting-started/expressions.md

@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ print(
 )
 ```
 
-You can also specify the specific columns that you want to return. There are two ways to do this. The first option is to create a `list` of column names, as seen below.
+You can also specify the specific columns that you want to return. There are two ways to do this. The first option is to pass the column names, as seen below.
 
 {{code_block('getting-started/expressions','select2',['select'])}}
 
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ print(
 )
 ```
 
-The second option is to specify each column within a `list` in the `select` statement. This option is shown below.
+The second option is to specify each column using `pl.col`. This option is shown below.
 
 {{code_block('getting-started/expressions','select3',['select'])}}
 

docs/src/python/getting-started/expressions.py

@@ -27,15 +27,15 @@
 # --8<-- [end:select]
 
 # --8<-- [start:select2]
-df.select(pl.col(["a", "b"]))
+df.select(pl.col("a", "b"))
 # --8<-- [end:select2]
 
 # --8<-- [start:select3]
-df.select([pl.col("a"), pl.col("b")]).limit(3)
+df.select(pl.col("a"), pl.col("b")).limit(3)
 # --8<-- [end:select3]
 
 # --8<-- [start:exclude]
-df.select([pl.exclude("a")])
+df.select(pl.exclude("a"))
 # --8<-- [end:exclude]
 
 # --8<-- [start:filter]
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@
 # --8<-- [end:filter2]
 
 # --8<-- [start:with_columns]
-df.with_columns([pl.col("b").sum().alias("e"), (pl.col("b") + 42).alias("b+42")])
+df.with_columns(pl.col("b").sum().alias("e"), (pl.col("b") + 42).alias("b+42"))
 # --8<-- [end:with_columns]
 
 # --8<-- [start:dataframe2]
@@ -67,24 +67,22 @@
 
 # --8<-- [start:group_by2]
 df2.group_by("y", maintain_order=True).agg(
-    [
-        pl.col("*").count().alias("count"),
-        pl.col("*").sum().alias("sum"),
-    ]
+    pl.col("*").count().alias("count"),
+    pl.col("*").sum().alias("sum"),
 )
 # --8<-- [end:group_by2]
 
 # --8<-- [start:combine]
 df_x = df.with_columns((pl.col("a") * pl.col("b")).alias("a * b")).select(
-    [pl.all().exclude(["c", "d"])]
+    pl.all().exclude(["c", "d"])
 )
 
 print(df_x)
 # --8<-- [end:combine]
 
 # --8<-- [start:combine2]
-df_y = df.with_columns([(pl.col("a") * pl.col("b")).alias("a * b")]).select(
-    [pl.all().exclude("d")]
+df_y = df.with_columns((pl.col("a") * pl.col("b")).alias("a * b")).select(
+    pl.all().exclude("d")
 )
 
 print(df_y)

py-polars/polars/dataframe/group_by.py

@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ def agg(
         ...         "c": [5, 4, 3, 2, 1],
         ...     }
         ... )
-        >>> df.group_by("a").agg([pl.col("b"), pl.col("c")])  # doctest: +IGNORE_RESULT
+        >>> df.group_by("a").agg(pl.col("b"), pl.col("c"))  # doctest: +IGNORE_RESULT
         shape: (3, 3)
         ┌─────┬───────────┬───────────┐
         │ a   ┆ b         ┆ c         │

py-polars/polars/expr/expr.py

@@ -3867,10 +3867,8 @@ def filter(self, predicate: Expr) -> Self:
         ...     }
         ... )
         >>> df.group_by("group_col").agg(
-        ...     [
-        ...         pl.col("b").filter(pl.col("b") < 2).sum().alias("lt"),
-        ...         pl.col("b").filter(pl.col("b") >= 2).sum().alias("gte"),
-        ...     ]
+        ...     lt=pl.col("b").filter(pl.col("b") < 2).sum(),
+        ...     gte=pl.col("b").filter(pl.col("b") >= 2).sum(),
         ... ).sort("group_col")
         shape: (2, 3)
         ┌───────────┬─────┬─────┐
@@ -5151,7 +5149,7 @@ def is_in(self, other: Expr | Collection[Any] | Series) -> Self:
         >>> df = pl.DataFrame(
         ...     {"sets": [[1, 2, 3], [1, 2], [9, 10]], "optional_members": [1, 2, 3]}
         ... )
-        >>> df.select([pl.col("optional_members").is_in("sets").alias("contains")])
+        >>> df.select(pl.col("optional_members").is_in("sets").alias("contains"))
         shape: (3, 1)
         ┌──────────┐
         │ contains │

py-polars/polars/io/pyarrow_dataset/functions.py

@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ def scan_pyarrow_dataset(
     >>> (
     ...     pl.scan_pyarrow_dataset(dset)
     ...     .filter("bools")
-    ...     .select(["bools", "floats", "date"])
+    ...     .select("bools", "floats", "date")
     ...     .collect()
     ... )  # doctest: +SKIP
     shape: (1, 3)

py-polars/polars/lazyframe/frame.py

@@ -684,7 +684,7 @@ def columns(self) -> list[str]:
         ...         "bar": [6, 7, 8],
         ...         "ham": ["a", "b", "c"],
         ...     }
-        ... ).select(["foo", "bar"])
+        ... ).select("foo", "bar")
         >>> lf.columns
         ['foo', 'bar']