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Ask HN: What Python IDE do you use?

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Ask HN: What Python IDE do you use?

#1

Post by wyuenho »

Hi everyone,

Since the last thread on this topic was almost 3 years old, I thought I should probably start a new one since the Python IDE landscape probably have changed a lot.

Please list the Python IDEs you use, the platform you develop on / to, and the pros and cons.

Re: Ask HN: What Python IDE do you use?

#2

Post by wyuenho »

Emacs23 trunk + Ropemacs trunk + AutoComplete trunk + Autopairs trunk

  Platform
    - MacOSX
    - Ubuntu
    - Python 2.6

  Pros
    - No rigid directory structure
    - Unmatched indentation mode (autofill)
    - Good backup editor
    - You can hack your IDE anyway you want easily

  Cons
    - Pymacs + Ropemacs are quite slow at pretty much anything
    - Emacs Pinkies
    - Ropemacs' focuses way more in refactoring (which I rarely use) than code analysis and automatic imports and auto-completion, so the later 2 major features are lacking quite a bit
    - Pymacs and Ropemacs have basically 2 people working on it, and an extremely small user-base.
Eclipse 3.6 + Pydev 1.6.4

  Platform
    - Same as above

  Pros
    - Fairly accurate code analysis, type-checking, auto-completion, syntax highlighting and import organization
    - Very good VCS, build tools, issue tracking integration
    - Has some very modern and very convenient editing shortcuts
    - Has unit testing support

  Cons
    - Can be slow at times
    - Monstrous memory hog
    - Rigid project structure, launch options and build options
    - Still have to drop back to the term for virtualenv, pip and other tools
    - Not so good at filling columns
    - Some people just prefer to type commands then click buttons

Re: Ask HN: What Python IDE do you use?

#3

Post by davepm »

pydev on windows. Or sometimes i use Visual Studio 2010.

In Linux i tend to use Emacs. If you like Vim, then you could try Cream for windows, which is quite nice.

Its just a case of finding what you are comfortable with, I would quite happily dev on linux with nano ;)

Re: Ask HN: What Python IDE do you use?

#4

Post by Ingaz »

I'm using PyScripter. Pros: very light, excellent debug with remote engine. Cons: only Windows, only 32bit Python versions.

My friend prefers PyDev.

I'm planning to try emacs for python coding.

I've tried vim, tuned code completion, doc strings, other - but I just did not like it a lot.

Re: Ask HN: What Python IDE do you use?

#5

Post by qbproger »

Ingaz wrote: post #4

I'm using PyScripter. Pros: very light, excellent debug with remote engine. Cons: only Windows, only 32bit Python versions. My friend prefers PyDev. I'm planning to try emacs for python coding. I've tried vim, tuned code completion, doc strings, other - but I just did not like it a lot.

On my system (Window 7) undo/redo seems to mess up after a bit, which was quite annoying. It'd eventually start removing lines or something. I don't remember exactly, but in the end that's why I stopped using it. Also, I think I remember long running scripts freezing the IDE.

NotePad++ does a decent job for editing a file here or there. PyDev is my editor of choice when working on a project.

Re: Ask HN: What Python IDE do you use?

#7

Post by senko »

Ubuntu, used to use VIM exclusively, now I'm trying a variety of IDEs at the moment (found out I prefer something that can remember the state of the project, to just VIM + NerdTree).

My experience so far:

* Geany (programmer's editor using GTK+) is simple and fast; if I'm using a graphical IDE, I'd like code completion (that can complete the code I wrote, not just stdlib) though

* Komodo (Edit) 6.0 (built on top of XUL) is fairly comprehensive; I keep getting bugs (or weird behaviour) with it (last time it wouldn't remember the custom python path for code completion), and feels a bit sluggish

* So far I like Wing IDE (commercial, I'm having a trial run atm). Comprehensive (if you go with the pro variant which costs a bit more, but hey, if I'm spending a lot of hours every day in it, it's worth it) & feels fast to me.

I haven't tried Aptana or PyDev. I have this (irrational?) feeling about Eclipse being huge, slow, and memory hog. I've used it a couple years ago (for some Java coding) and never felt good using it; and it was the bloatest application on my system (yes, even more than OpenOffice). From the comments here (so far), it looks its more or less the same nowadays...

Re: Ask HN: What Python IDE do you use?

#8

Post by gawker »

VIM and NERDTree and some Python plugins (although I did use Eclipse when attempting to port a Java library to Python library)

Platform: - Mac OSX - Ubuntu

Pros: - The flexibility and efficiency of VIM has so far been the best thing about VIM for me. The ability to move quickly throughout the document and move lines with minimal keystrokes is why I got hooked on to VIM.

Cons: - No auto-completion (never installed the plugin perhaps?) - Dealing with 1000 line files and trying to compare things here and there is slightly painful - Always having to exit VIM to get to the command line (which we had something like Emacs but it's against the VIM philosophy isn't it?)

Re: Ask HN: What Python IDE do you use?

#9

Post by selectnull »

I use Vim and Terminal on Ubuntu.

Having spent a majority of my career so far developing on windows in Delphi and Visual Studio, this is a complete change for me. I have been programming in python for two years now, and spent a first year trying different IDEs: Eclipse with Pydev (on windows and ubuntu), PyScripter (windows), NetBeans, Komodo, WingIDE, recently tried PyCharm and MonoDevelop, but they were all too slow or cumbersome for me.

The speed and flexibility of good editor (vim) and unix tools is the way I feel most happy.

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