[Tutor] Best Python Editor

[Dave Angel]

Eddie <eddie9139 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi guys,
>
> What would you regard as the best free Python editor to use on Windows
> for a new guy? Searching Google i see that there is quite a few out
> there and is "VIM" the best one to go with?
>
> Regards
> Eddie
>
>   
This is such a common question on the python forums it ought to be in a 
FAQ, and maybe it is.

VI and EMACS are the two "standard" Unix editors, going back decades.  
Somebody used to the flexibility of either of those two, who is now 
stuck on Windows, would naturally not want to give up any of the 
"customizability" of these.  And people have posted macros for each to 
automate some of the things you'd like for Python, such as auto-indent.  
VIM is an editor in that heritage.

Somebody who's used Windows for 20 years, however, might expect that 
Ctrl-S, Ctrl-F4, Alt-F4, etc. have standard meanings.  So they might be 
more comfortable in an editor that starts with the Windows interface, 
and builds on it.   I use metapad for many things, though not for 
Python.  Others use Notepad++.

Next question is whether you want an IDE.  The ability to single-step in 
the debugger, locate and fix a problem in source, and start again, in a 
single environment is appealing.  When I have a stack trace showing in 
the debugger, I can use the debugger to locate the source at any level 
of that stack without having to explicitly load the file and jump to the 
specified line number.  And no risk that the same file is already loaded 
into some other editor and I'm going to lose changes if some are made 
one place and some another.  And of course, it's nice to have a locals 
window, a globals window, a watch window, ...

People that do not like an IDE cite the advantage of using a single 
editor for several programming languages, for word processing, and for 
web design.  If such an editor is highly programmable, that would seem 
very good as well.

So then it comes down to opinion.  I use the (not-free) Komodo IDE.  
There is a free Komodo-Edit with most of the same features, but I really 
don't know what subset it includes.  It is programmable with many canned 
add-ins, or you can customize it yourself with recorded macros and with 
scripts in Python or (I think) Javascript.  Its addin technology is 
related somehow to Firefox, and I think it used a lot of the Mozilla 
code in its engine.  The default UI is very familiar to people with 
Windows experience, though I don't know how it works on Mac and Linux

http://www.activestate.com/komodo/    Komodo IDE
http://www.activestate.com/komodo_edit/   opensource Komodo Edit
http://www.activestate.com/komodo_edit/comparison/    comparison between 
the two