Many python developers ask me what is the best IDE for python development. Guido van Rossum (the inventor of Python) created a webpage that lists several IDE options with short explanations. The page also offers a voting system for users to express their opinion about the most promising IDEs.
However, there are several factors that you need to consider when choosing an IDE: What programming language and version of python do you want to use? What’s your budget and time frame? Do you want to develop in different platforms like Linux, Mac, and Windows? What features do you need?
It’s important to note that they all have different features and capabilities. So here we compiled this arsenal of tools such as free and paid IDEs that can help your programming needs
Advantage of Online IDE
An IDE (Integrated Development Environment) is a pool of integrated applications that understands your code much better than a text editor. An IDE provides features such as build automation, code linting, testing, and debugging. These features can drastically speed up your work. The downside is that IDEs are much heavy than code editors and require exemplary hardware configuration. Also, it isn’t effortless to use at first because they provide so many controls.
The advantage of using the online IDE is that projects can be accessed everywhere; no setups and configurations are necessary. There is no hardware limitation since all the information is being stored in the cloud.
Spyder
Category: IDE
Spyder is an open-source Python IDE that’s optimized for data science workflows. Spyder comes included with the Anaconda package manager distribution, so depending on your setup you may already have it installed on your machine.
What’s interesting about Spyder is that its target audience is data scientists using Python. You’ll notice this throughout. For example, Spyder integrates well with common Python data science libraries like SciPy, NumPy, and Matplotlib.
Spyder features most of the “common IDE features” you might expect, such as a code editor with robust syntax highlighting, Python code completion, and even an integrated documentation browser.
A special feature that I haven’t seen in other Python editing environments is Spyder’s “variable explorer” that allows you to display data using a table-based layout right inside your IDE. Personally, I usually don’t have a need for this but it does look neat. If you regularly do data science work using Python, you might fall in love with this unique feature. The IPython/Jupyter integration is nice as well.
Overall, I’d say that Spyder feels more basic than other IDEs. I like to view it more as a special purpose tool rather than something I use as my primary editing environment every day. What is nice about this Python IDE is that it is available for free on Windows, macOS, and Linux and that it is fully open-source software.
It is the dedicated IDE for data science developers, and it incorporates some very useful features that make it popular among them.
Spyder is built specifically for data science. It facilitates coders and programmers to do programming easily and accurately. Its code editor, debugger, and compiler make it the best choice for new learners. Moreover, if you are a beginner, you will like features like online help that allows you to search for library information.
Pros
- Light-weight and fast.
- Great for beginners
- Provide online help
Cons
- It is not very customizable.
- Basic than counterparts like PyCharm.
Visual Studio Code
- Initial release: April 29, 2015; 5 years ago
- Size: Windows: 40.8–68.3 MB, Linux: 46.5–66.6 MB, macOS: 67.5 MB
- Operating system: Windows, macOS, Linux (Visual Studio Code is cross-platform IDE and supports macOS, Linux, and Microsoft Windows)
- Visual Studio Code is A Home For All Languages, it supports C#, Python, C/C++, Javascript, and many other languages.
- It has its compiler and interpreter and Supports python web development using flask and Django.
- It has a debugger that supports syntax highlighting and has many other cool features as well.
Atom
- Initial release: 26 February 2014
- Written in: CoffeeScript, JavaScript, Less, HTML
- License: MIT License
- Atom is free, sleek, lightweight, and open-source IDE.
- Operating system: Windows, macOS, Linux (cross-platform IDE and works on macOS, Linux, and Microsoft Windows)
- It supports third-party packages and plug-ins
- It is developed by GitHub.
- It also supports other languages such as C. C++ java etc
PyCharm
Category: IDE
One of the best (and only) full-featured, dedicated IDEs for Python is PyCharm. Available in both paid (Professional) and free open-source (Community) editions, PyCharm installs quickly and easily on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux platforms.
Out of the box, PyCharm supports Python development directly. You can just open a new file and start writing code. You can run and debug Python directly inside PyCharm, and it has support for source control and projects.
Pros: It’s the de-facto Python IDE environment, with tons of support and a supportive community. It edits, runs, and debugs Python out of the box.
Cons: PyCharm can be slow to load, and the default settings may need tweaking for existing projects.
Thonny
Category: IDE
A recent addition to the Python IDE family, Thonny is billed as an IDE for beginners. Written and maintained by the Institute of Computer Science at the University of Tartu in Estonia, Thonny is available for all major platforms, with installation instructions on the site.
By default, Thonny installs with its own bundled version of Python, so you don’t need to install anything else new. More experienced users may need to tweak this setting so already installed libraries are found and used.
Pros: You’re a beginning Python user, and want an IDE that’s ready to roll.
Cons: More experienced Python developers will find Thonny too basic for most uses, and the built-in interpreter is something to work around, not with. Plus, as a new tool, there may be issues you find which may not have immediate solutions.
If you’re interested in using Thonny as your Python editor, be sure to read our dedicated article on Thonny which goes into more depth and shows you additional features.
Wing
Wing is a lightweight Python environment that is designed to give you a productive development experience.
Price: Wing Pro trial is free. Wind Personal and Wing 101 are paid versions.
Features:
- Immediate feedback by writing your Python code.
- Helps you to remove common errors and write better Python code.
- You can check for debug data and try out bug fixes interactively without restarting your app.
- Wing supports test-driven development with various frameworks like the unittest, pytest, nose, doctest, and Django testing.
ActivePython
Increase software development data science with a secure and supported Python distribution. ActivePython is software consisting of the Python implementation CPython and a set of various extensions to facilitate installation.
Price: Free for the community, however, coder, team, business. Enterprise versions are paid.
Features:
- It is one of the best IDE for Python which allows you to connect to your big data and databases, including Redis, MySQL, Hadoop, and MongoDB.
- Helps you to manage your data using, SciPy, Pandas, NumPy, and MatPlotLib.
- Supports machine learning models like TensorFlow, Keras, and Theano.
- Compatible with open-source Python so that you can avoid vendor lock-in.
- Uses OpenSSL patch for security.
Eclipse plus PyDev
Among the most used IDEs for development, Eclipse Plus PyDev provides several features like interactive console, refactoring, debugger, token browser, etc.
- It has smart code analysis tools as well. Eclipse Plus PyDev provides support for IronPython, Python, Jython, and Django, thereby serving as a multi-operational IDE.
- Eclipse Plus PyDev is available for OS X at, Linux, Windows and is the de-facto IDE for open-source Java development.
- With numerous extensions and add-ons to its credit, Eclipse can be used for several development activities.
- Its advanced inference techniques offer better code analysis and completion features.
- It can also be used for debugging codes in quick and efficient ways.
Pros: If you have already installed Eclipse, then adding PyDev will be a quicker and easier process. It is accessible to experienced Eclipse developers.
Cons: In case you are a Python novice or a general software developer, then Eclipse is more massive and requires more knowledge for proper use.
Pydev
Pydev is the feature-rich, and open-source Python IDE that is best to use for mac. It supports code completion, Django integration, code completion with auto-import, code analysis, and type hinting.
Pydev comes with a debugger, token browser, refactoring, code coverage, unit test integration, and Pylint integration. It can also be best for Jython, Python, and IronPython development.
Pros
- Maven Integration and Support
- Subversion/Git integration
- Simplified IDE makes it easy to write efficient code.
- Debugging is very easy in Pydev.
Cons
- Eclipse has a large footprint
- Updated versions require to build plugins and migrate projects
- Sometimes crashes on loading big projects.
GNU Emacs
GNU Emacs is one of the best Python editors since always. It is compatible with many operating systems, including mac. GNU is an extendable and self-documenting editor with an on to go display. The developers of GNU are always upgrading it for better results.
Furthermore, GNU Emacs adopts the lisp coding language and syntax coloring. It offers Unicode support as well.
Pros
- Enable developers to perform better.
- Compatible with many platforms.
- Enables customization of a variety of skills.
Cons
- Somehow complex than other IDEs
- Takes time to learn in the initial stages.
SciTE
It is the SCIntilla based text editor, and you can use it for mac. It is quite a useful editor for running and building different applications and programs. It is a powerful, flexible, and portable editor.
It is the free source code editor that comes with the source code and license that allows use in any free project or commercial project. Its features are useful for debugging and editing code.
Pros
- Flexible and light-weight.
- Built-in shell and powerful editor.
- Simple graphical user interface
- Syntax highlighting for many languages.
Cons
- Pretty hard to configure
- Missing file browser
- No extensions or themes.
Conclusion
Whether you are new to development or a veteran player, you need an IDE (Integrated Development Environment) or a code editor to showcase your coding skills. An IDE is a software that consists of standard developer tools into a single user-friendly GUI (Graphical User interface).
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