[Python-Dev] IDLE in the stdlib

[Terry Reedy]

On 3/20/2013 12:41 PM, Eli Bendersky wrote:

> Personally, I think that IDLE reflects badly on Python in more ways than
> one. It's badly maintained, quirky and ugly.

Ugly is subjective: by what standard and compared to what?

I suggested in my previous response why I think 'badly maintained' is 
untrue and/or unfair. Dismissing the recent work that has been done does 
not help.

There are 20 open issues with smtp(lib) in the title. It is 37 kb, 
making .54 issues per kb. For idlelib, with 786 kb, there are 104 
issues, or .13 issues per kb, which is one fourth as many. I could claim 
that smtplib, based on 1990s RFCs is much worse maintained. It certainly 
could use somee positive attention.

What current quirks, not already the subject of a tracker issue, are you 
thinking of?

 > It serves a very narrow set of uses,

Relative to the computing universe, yes. It focuses on editing and 
running Python code.

 > and does it badly.

As a user, I rate it at least 'good'. Most of the tracker issues hardly 
affect me, and many or most of the worst problems for me have already 
been fixed. What IDE would you suggest as a simple, install and go, 
alternative? It should have the following features or something close:
* One-key saves the file and runs it with the -i option (enter 
interactive mode after running the file) so one can enter additional 
statements interactively.
* Syntax errors cause a message display; one click returns to the spot 
the error was detected.
* Error tracebacks are displayed unmodified, without extra garbage or 
censorship.
# Right click on a line like
  File "C:\Programs\Python33\lib\difflib.py", line 1759, ...
and then left click on the goto popup to go to that line in that file, 
opening the file if necessary.

As of 3.3.0, this last feature was not documented, at least not in the 
Idle Help file. Since then, it has been.

-- 
Terry Jan Reedy