[Python-Dev] [Idle-dev] Removing IDLE from the standard library

[Mark Summerfield]

On 2010-07-11, Ronald Oussoren wrote:
> On 11 Jul, 2010, at 1:05, Tal Einat wrote:
> > Hello,
> > 
> > I would like to propose removing IDLE from the standard library.

-1

> > I have been using IDLE since 2002 and have been doing my best to help
> > maintain and further develop IDLE since 2005.
[snip]

> I'm -1 on that.  Several books, including fairly recent ones, use IDLE as
> the IDE for running examples.
> 
> Ronald

Thanks for mentioning that! My book "Programming in Python 3 (second
edition)" introduces IDLE in Chapter 1 as follows:

    "As the screenshot in Figure 1.1 shows, IDLE has a rather retro look
    that harks back to the days of Motif on Unix and Windows 95. This is
    because it uses the Tk-based Tkinter GUI library (covered in Chapter
    15) rather than one of the more powerful modern GUI libraries such
    as PyGtk, PyQt, or wxPython. The reasons for the use of Tkinter are
    a mixture of history, liberal license conditions, and the fact that
    Tkinter is much smaller than the other GUI libraries. On the plus
    side, IDLE comes as standard with Python and is very simple to learn
    and use."

I personally really dislike Tcl/Tk. Nonetheless I invariably prefer to
use IDLE than the raw command line for experimenting with Python and
also for doing small one off custom jobs, so I end up using IDLE most
days.

I use IDLE on Linux & Windows (both 32 bit) with no problems. (My usage
is purely of the interactive shell, I never use IDLE for editing.)


-- 
Mark Summerfield, Qtrac Ltd, www.qtrac.eu
    C++, Python, Qt, PyQt - training and consultancy
	"Programming in Python 3" - ISBN 0321680561
            http://www.qtrac.eu/py3book.html