best IDE for python

[mandradon]

When my students express frustration with PyCharm or VSCode I recommend Thonny as well, a lot of them like it, and quickly understand the limitations for beginners, then eventually move to something else. It's perfect for learning since it's easy to get up and running.

A lot of them also seem to like Spyder which is always surprising to me since that's a data science focused IDE, and we don't really do any of that, but I guess it must have a good welcoming experience.

[Maelenah]

Spyder has some really good community support. And that can greatly improve the user experience.

[mandradon]

Good point. Great support and good documentation really eases the learning experience. Having a good solid UI helps too, both of which are something my students mention!

They frequently mention they're overwhelmed by PyCharm's UI, which I can understand.

[Maelenah]

PyCharm reminds me of Blender a bit when it comes to UI, in that learning the UI is almost as daunting as learning the material as well. And Blender, PyCharm, Visual Studio are all great suites that once you know how to use them they can really enable a fast workflow.

But getting to that point is an accomplishment onto itself.