[Python-Dev] IDLE in the stdlib

[Antoine Pitrou]

Le Wed, 20 Mar 2013 18:48:15 -0400,
"Kurt B. Kaiser" <kbk at shore.net> a écrit :
> 
> IDLE has a single keystroke round trip - it's an IDE, not just an
> editor like Sublime Text or Notepad.  In the 21st century, people
> expect some sort of IDE.  Or, they should!

I don't think I've used an IDE in years (not seriously anyway).
I also don't think beginners "expect some sort of IDE", since they
don't know what it is. They probably don't even expect a text editor at
first.

> I'd also like to make a plea to keep IDLE's interface clean and
> basic. There are lots of complex IDEs available for those who want
> them.  It's natural for developers to add features, that's what they
> do :-), but you don't hand a novice a Ferrari (or emacs) and expect
> good results.

What is the point of an IDE without features?

Also, this is touching another issue: IDLE needs active maintainers,
who will obviously be experienced Python developers. But if they are
experienced Python developers, they will certainly want the additional
features, otherwise's they'll stop using and maintaining IDLE.

In other words, if IDLE were actually usable *and* pleasant for
experienced developers, I'm sure more developers would be motivated
to improve and maintain it.

> It's sometimes said that IDLE is "ugly" or "broken".  These terms are
> subjective!

Subjective statements are not baseless and idiotic. They come from the
experience of people actually wanting to like a piece of software, you
shouldn't discard them at face value.

Regards

Antoine.