how do "real" python programmers work?

[bblais]

Hello,

Let me start by saying that I am coming from a background using Matlab
(or Octave), and C++.  I am going to outline the basic nuts-and-bolts
of how I work in these languages, and ask for some help to find out how
the same thing is done in Python.  I am not sure what the standard is.

In C++, I open up an editor in one window, a Unix shell in another.  I
write the code in the editor, then switch to the shell window for
compile and run.  I then go back to the editor for modifications, and
then compile and run in the shell window.

In Matlab, I do much the same thing, except there is no compile phase.
I have the editor on one window, the Matlab interactive shell in the
other.  I often make a bunch of small scripts for exploration of a
problem, before writing any larger apps.  I go back and forth editing
the current file, and then running it directly (Matlab looks at the
time stamp, and automagically reloads the script when I modify it).

In Python, there seems to be a couple ways of doing things.   I could
write it in one window, and from a Unix shell call
                           python myscript.py
and be like C++, but then I lose the interactiveness which makes
prototyping easier.  If I use the python shell, I can use import (and
reload), or execfile perhaps.

How do experienced python programmers usually do it?  Is there a
"usually" about it, or is it up to personal taste?  Are there any
convenient ways of doing these things?

I realize this is a pretty newbie question, but it could possibly save
me hours of time if there is a better way to work.


          thanks,

            Brian Blais