Similarly, if you have to drop out of the editor to run your Python code, then it’s not much more than a simple text editor.īeing able to step through your code as it runs is a core feature of all IDEs and most good code editors.īeing able to quickly spot keywords, variables, and symbols in your code makes reading and understanding code much easier.Īny editor or IDE worth it’s salt will recognize the colon at the end of a while or for statement, and know the next line should be indented. If an IDE or editor won’t let you save your work and reopen everything later, in the same state it was in when you left, it’s not much of an IDE. So what things do we really need in a coding environment? Feature lists vary from app to app, but there are a core set of features that makes coding easier: Remove ads Requirements for a Good Python Coding Environment

Compared to an IDE, a good dedicated code editor is usually smaller and quicker, but often less feature rich. The very best ones interact with source control systems as well. Most good code editors can execute code and control a debugger. In contrast, a dedicated code editor can be as simple as a text editor with syntax highlighting and code formatting capabilities. You may also need advanced knowledge to use them properly. They can, therefore, be large and take time to download and install. Most IDEs support many different programming languages and contain many more features.

An editor designed to handle code (with, for example, syntax highlighting and auto-completion).

As the name implies, IDEs integrate several tools specifically designed for software development. Lastly, none of these options are mutually exclusive, so you can try them out on your own with very little penalty.īut first… What Are IDEs and Code Editors?Īn IDE (or Integrated Development Environment) is a program dedicated to software development. We’ll call out some Whys and Why Nots for each. To make things easier, we’ll break our list into two broad categories of tools: the ones built exclusively for Python development and the ones built for general development that you can use for Python. We can’t pick what works best for you and your process, but we can explain the pros and cons of each and help you make an informed decision. Using an IDE, or even just a good dedicated code editor, makes coding fun-but which one is best for you?įear not, Gentle Reader! We are here to help explain and demystify the myriad of choices available to you. Writing Python using IDLE or the Python Shell is great for simple things, but those tools quickly turn larger programming projects into frustrating pits of despair. Watch it together with the written tutorial to deepen your understanding: Finding the Perfect Python Code Editor Watch Now This tutorial has a related video course created by the Real Python team.

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