Ask HN: What Python IDE do you use?

[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.

[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

[jvenable]

I live inside WingIDE Pro(/Windows/wxPython/Django/) - it is the only IDE I have used that will reliably debug multi threaded apps and wxPython. We have hundreds of Python components in our product (financial industry) and Wing makes it easy to manage (or at least as easy as possible). The company fixes problems quickly (I have reported a few and they fixed all of them within a reasonable time frame). For commercial Python development it is as close to perfect as I have found. Not cheap, but well worth it...

[cool-RR]

I love Wing too. Now, how is $180 for the Pro version not cheap?

[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...

[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?)

[cawhitworth]

Eclipse with PyDev with a Vi emulator (can't remember which one offhand). Having been something of an Eclipse skeptic in the past (despite being a Visual Studio devotee) I have to say I'm really quite impressed with it. It certainly makes navigating larger Python projects somewhat easier. Eclipse certainly seems no worse than VS for bloat or memory usage - although I guess that's not saying much :)

That said, if I'm just knocking out a single script or something, I'll just drop straight into vim.

(Oh, on Windows, almost exclusively)

[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.

[sharkey]

Been using Wing IDE for a couple of years now, just upgraded to the new one. It works well for me ...

[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.

[qbproger]

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.

[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 ;)

[sandipagr]

Aptana 3 Beta. It comes with Pydev. Developing on Ubuntu/Windows

I really like having Terminal in the IDE itself. Pydev also comes with django template editor which is nice.

[BerislavLopac]

ActiveState Komodo on both Windows (7) and Ubuntu. I also plan to use it when I get a Mac, unless I run into something better there. :)

[megaman821]

Komodo IDE with VIM key bindings. Netbeans wasn't bad either. I really didn't like Eclipse.

[julius_geezer]

I use emacs, and almost always write for Windows. If I need a GUI, I use PythonCard.

[bigwally]

Notepad++ seems to work pretty well on MS windows. Can't really say it's any better than a lot of other editors out there.

Tried Eclipse and it feels like bloatware.

I would really like to find some middle ground between notepad++ and eclipse.