Main Area and Open Discussion > General Software Discussion

Best Python IDE

(1/12) > >>

CWuestefeld:
As I've been learning the Python language I've been trying to find a comfortable IDE for my purposes. Naturally, the first one I encountered was the "built-in" IDLE, but this quickly proved to be too bare-bones. There are a number of more advanced ones that support code completion, automatic documentation and program structure diagramming, and refactoring.

I've been using SPE (Stani's Python Editor, http://pythonide.stani.be/ ) as it was the first "advanced" one I found, but I've run into roadblocks with it and it's got me frustrated. The last version with an installer had a broken winpdb (the debugger), and while there are newer releases, it seems like they quit building installers some time ago. In fact, it's difficult to find any prebuilt distribution for those of us without svn.

I've come across some others that seem more promising. Notably, pydev and Eric both boast of refactoring, which could be a boon.

Would anyone care to throw in two cents about the features, quality, and support of these tools (or any others)?

housetier:

I like PIDA best when it comes to python programming, because I can use my favorite text editor.

hwtan:
I use WingWare IDE for python. What I liked, which might be available these day in other IDEs, was the the auto-complete even in the Python Shell. Good for trying out short snippets before integrating them into the main code.

Shades:
Although I don't have any experience with the solution I offer: PyDev
my friend who is a very adept C/C++/Java programmer (with 20 years of programming experience under his belt) who swears by the Eclipse IDE. The original intent or this IDE is JAVA related programming, but there are a boatload of plug-ins of other programming languages available for it.

With that in mind and after taking a quick look, there was also a plug-in for Python. Price-wise it couldn't be better (free EPL license). The comments that you can see when you visit the link are very positive, which should make up for my lack of experience ;-).

40hz:
FWIW: When I was first starting to learn Python, it was suggested to me by a guy I know who breathes code, that I avoid IDEs and just use a really good editor such as Notepad++. His feeling was that if you go the IDE route initially, you will need to learn two things at the same time - Python - and your IDE.

I took that advice and I'm glad I did. It allowed me to just focus on learning the language without getting too bogged down in all the "productivity and convenience" things that would really be more applicable to somebody who already knew how to program in Python.

If you're learning something, about the only thing you really want is syntax highlighting. Go beyond that and you run the risk of "throwing out the baby with the bathwater." Sometimes it's good to have to fully type out full lines of code and make mistakes. Repetition and really looking at lines of code can go a long way to reinforcing your learning experience and helping you memorize things that need to be available for instant recall. It's sort of like cooking - try learning how to do something from scratch first before you start looking for ways to do it quicker or more easily. You'll always learn a lot more doing it "the hard way" first..

Once I got more comfortable using Python, the value of using an IDE became much more apparent. Because before I knew something about Python, I couldn't really use most of what the IDE could provide.

Just my own tuppence. :)

Oh yeah, almost forgot...I like PyDev best. :Thmbsup:

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page