advice choosing IDE

[François Pinard]

[Lupe]

> I've read many posts, and although I recently bought a book on C to start
> learning it, I'd like to give Python a good chance.

Hi, Lupe.  Just a quick hello, while reading your post.

My feeling would be that Python is giving you a good chance, more than the
other way around! :-)

> What IDE would you recommend for someone who needs easiness of use with a
> background of Pascal and VB for MS Office?

I have no real advice to offer, as I do not even use MS Office nor VB, yet
in some past life, I did a great deal of work in Pascal -- the real one! --,
but still, away from Microsoft systems.

> I've definitely changed to Linux now and I would like a free IDE either
> for procedural or object oriented programming.  I'd need an easy help on
> syntax,

For one, I'm using Emacs for most of my works, which is an editor with many
capabilities, and which evolved a lot since I learned it.  Nowadays, I guess
it is more affordable to newcomers than it once was, with bitmapped menus
and widgets, and also keybad and mouse bindings, but I'm not using these
much yet, and I do really not know how a newcomer would perceive Emacs.

There is a syntax helper, in form of a templating system named ELSE, which I
sometimes use with other languages or environments, but I found out it is
not that helpful for Python, since Python syntax is so clear, uncluttered
and easy to remember.  Probably that the easiest help you can get on Python
syntax is your own memory, that could be well worth a lot of tools.

> [...] a front end debugger with easy trace, breakpoints and watches.

I read many times that `pdb' is accessible from Emacs through GUD (the Grand
Unified Debugger), it might offer what you want, I do not have enough
experience with it to confirm everything you ask for.  It just never
happened yet that, for all the programs I wrote in Python so far, one ever
gave me enough trouble to push me into acquiring experience with GUD/pdb.

> Programming is not my profession, just a hobby!

It might make a difference.  I progressively learned to write without bugs,
so debugging after writing is much less important for me now that it has
been when I was more of a beginner.  I'm almost sure that if programming was
just a hobby, I would be tempted to learn `pdb' and GUD more carefully, and
early, so I can take advantage of them all along the way.

                                            Keep happy!

-- 
François Pinard   http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/~pinard