[Idle-dev] IDLE interpreter window

Guido van Rossum guido@python.org
Mon, 06 Mar 2000 10:19:44 -0500


> Albert Brandl wrote:
> > Each shell I know (not too many, I confess) uses the concept of a prompt.
> > Interaction with the shell occurs at the prompt. You enter a command,
> > press Return and watch what happens. The shell processes the command,
> > presents the results (if any) and shows a new prompt line.

[Fredrik]
> otoh, every editor-based shell window I know (emacs,
> epsilon, etc) work exactly like the one in IDLE.
> 
> > Frankly, I don't think that "Editor window" is a good metaphor for the
> > *Python Shell*. The main purpose is to execute commands issued by the
> > user - something usually accomplished with a _shell_, not an editor
> 
> maybe you should look outside the box?

In Albert's defense, I've often wished that a click in the PyShell
window would move the cursor to the command line, and also that typing
would automatically go into the command line.

Albert is probably an example of a typical newbie who's seen xterms
and DOS windows only, both of which have this interface (Emacs is
definitely not for newbies :-).

As long as there's a way to select a region in the shell output and
copy it using normal copy+paste commands, I think the needs of most
users are met -- I've often confused myself by editing a previously
executed command in place rather than copying it to the command line
or using the history commands.

Maybe a fully editable PyShell window should be an option for advanced
users.

--Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/)