Do you want to write a program using Python? This programming language is one of the most popular for writing simple yet productive code. If you’ve ever thought of learning this language, you might be wondering what tool is best to help you do it. Well, if your answer is an IDE (integrated development environment), then PyCharm is what you should opt out for.
Are you thinking of using the Python programming language? Do you want to learn how to install PyCharm IDE to use it for coding? If so, there are tons of great features you can take advantage of with this software, and here is what they are.
Pydev
Platform: GNU/Linux/macOS/Windows/Solaris
Official website: https://www.eclipse.org/; http://pydev.org/
Type: IDE
Eclipse is an integrated development environment (IDE) historically designed for the Java language. Still, thanks to a system of plugins or extensions, it can be used with other programming languages, including C/C++ and PHP. Pydev is a plugin that allows Eclipse to be used as a Python IDE that also supports Jython and IronPython. Pydev uses advanced inference techniques to provide elements such as code completion and code analysis. The IDE also provides the following features: debugger, Django, an interactive console, basic syntax highlighting, code coverage, etc. It is one of the best Ide for python and Best Python Editor too.
Pydev is free, platform-independent, and promotes excellent integrity with the Eclipse universe. Thanks to the efforts of the developers and the evolution of technology, python development has become almost comparable to Java development on Eclipse, making the experience much more impressive and exceptional.
Advantage:
- Easy to learn and also includes several features (CPython, Jython, IronPython)
- The Pydev plugin to code in Python on Eclipse
- Code Completion and Code Analysis
Disadvantage:
- User interfaces not very enriching.
Pycharm
Platform: Linux/macOS/Windows
Official website: https://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/
Type: IDE
Pycharm is an integrated development environment developed by JetBrains. It stands out from the competition because of its productivity tools, such as quick fixes. Available in three versions, the Apache-licensed Community version, the Educational (Edu) version, and the proprietary Professional version. The first two versions are open source and therefore free of charge, while the Professional version is paid
The Community version is very interesting because it has different features such as syntax highlighting, auto-completion, and live code verification. The paid version has more advanced features such as full database management and a multitude of more important Frameworks than the community version such as Django, Flask, Google App, Engine, Pyramid, and web2py.
Advantage:
- Active community support
- Live code verification and syntax highlighting
- Executes edits and debugs Python code without any external requirements
Disadvantage:
- Slow loading time
- The default setting may require adjustment before existing projects can be used.
GNU/Emacs
Platform: Linux/macOS/Windows
Official website: https://www.gnu.org
Type: Text editor
Created in 1976 by Richard Stallman, Emacs (Editing MACroS running on TECO) is a family of text editors with an extensible set of features. This free software is very popular with the developer community.
Richard Stallman insisted on the fact that the software must be completely free and customizable without any restriction in programming. After a few years, many versions of Emacs have appeared, including GNU Emacs, initiated by Richard Stallman in 1984 and XEmacs launched in 1991. GNU Emacs uses a powerful extension language called Emacs Lisp that supports advanced tasks such as writing, compiling programs, surfing the Internet, reading email, and discussion forums.
This software is available for free download and is available on all platforms. GNU Emacs uses various customization scripts for development in several languages, including Python.
For Python development, you can use the Elpy extension on Emacs to work with Python projects. This software is very feature-rich. Among its many features, we can mention the highlighting of syntax to differentiate document elements such as keywords and comments; Automatic indentation to have consistent formatting in a file, etc.
Advantage :
- Free and fully customizable software.
- Automatic insertion of elements required by the document structure, such as spaces, newlines, and brackets;
- 24-bit color encoded support for the terminals supporting it
Disadvantage:
- Not easy to use for beginners in programming
Thonny
Thonny is an IDE developed for learning and teaching programming at The University of Tartu, which you can download for free on the Bitbucket repository.
Thonny is very nice for beginners because it can show you the step-through statements and expressions with the assistant page’s help. Thonny offers a great editing function where a new window is opened with local variables, and the code is shown separately from your main code.
Moreover, Thonny helps your coding process by highlight any lines you make an error. For example, when you forget a bracket or making a typo, as shown in the image below.
When you have an error in your script, the code block would be highlighted by a grey colour from the line you start the error to the end. In this way, you can point out any error within your code.
Thonny also offers you the Python script debugging process, which runs neatly. You need to press Ctrl + F5, and the debugging process would start on its own. I would show you the example by debugging the above code.
The result is in the image above; I have a syntax error because I haven’t closed the parsing properly.
If you want to explore more, all the tools you can explore are available in the view tab shown below.
Overall, the purpose of Thonny is to give you a good understanding of how Python works under the hood and help you simplify the coding process. In my opinion, Thonny is suitable for a beginner who wants to learn more about the Python language.
Wing
Wing is a minimalist Python IDE developed to teaching beginner programming. The developer has written the companion book and video recording you could follow closely for learning Python using the Wing IDE. Let’s take a look at the Wing IDE in the image below.
As you can see in the above image, the IDE already contain a tutorial of the IDE and Python you could follow. The material is easy to follow for any beginner, and the IDE is simple enough for anybody to understand. Let’s see few features from Wing you could use for your learning.
First, we have the Auto-completion feature. This is useful when you want to have a quicker way for scripting.
Next, we have highlight features in Wing. During your coding process, you would eventually end up with a bunch of code. It is sometimes a mess, especially for beginners in coding. A highlighter feature is appreciated in this condition because it would help you pinpoint where you are in the coding process or where the error is. Let’s take an example in the below image.
You could see how my variable is highlighted and the other variable with the same name in the image above. Then you could see a slight red line which indicates the error. If we move our cursor there, we could highlight the cause of the error.
Another feature that I feel is useful for beginners is the debug feature. When running the debug feature, the process will try finding your coding error and what caused it. The debug example process is shown in the image below.
Finally, a feature that I like from Wing is the Search bar that is located easily for any individual to use. When writing my code, I am personally having a hard time tracking all the variables and the location of certain lines of code. With the search bar, the process is made easier.
As you can see from the image above, I could try using the search button, and all the code I want to find is highlighted. It doesn’t sound amazing, but the usefulness is massive, especially if you still learning.
Overall, Wing is easy to use IDE for beginners because it offers many learning materials and features that help the coding process.
Conclusion
There are a number of Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) for Python. Many experienced Python programmers swear by one and only one IDE: PyCharm . Many also like: Spyder and WingIDE while some opt for Notepad++ or even Emacs , I’m sure.