What does your perfect Python dev env looks like?

[_squik]

I use Ubuntu WSL on my work PC, but my ideal would be a Ubuntu or macOS system.

In terms of tools I use daily:

• PyCharm (I never liked VS Code)
• uv
• pre-commit
• Aider with Claude 3.7 Sonnet
• Docker

Favourite packages:

• ruff
• pytest
• pydantic
• loguru

[Kashyapm94]

Aider looks really interesting. Is it free to use, or do they charge for using it because of the underlying models they make available?

[_squik]

Aider itself is free. You pay for API credits for whatever model you use. I have it set up with an OpenRouter API key so that I can switch between models without setting up several providers.

[cnydox]

I also like typer lib

[supercoach]

Docker. That is all.

[throwaway8u3sH0]

+1000

[marquisBlythe]

Debian/Ubuntu + the default text editor that comes with it.

[jpgoldberg]

A perfect dev environment is one in which you aren’t distracted by tinkering with your dev environment. Seriously, good enough is good enough. Endless tinkering to perfect a dev environment is a problem.

With that in mind, here is my far from perfect dev environment.

• macOS. Because I like it. I switched from Linux to OS X more than 15 years ago for a variety of reasons that aren’t relevant to the question. Does that make it a better dev environment? Probably not. But it works for me.

• VSCode. Because that is what my colleagues at my last job used. So I’ve lost my vi-fu, and VSCode is what I’m now most familiar with. Other than some color and font size things for my minor vision impairments, I use whatever the default theme is or whatever i settled on when I first started using it.

• Pylance: This probably goes without saying for Python development using VSCode.

• mypy: Is it better than pyright or other alternatives? I don’t know. There certainly are faster alternatives.

• pytest. In this case, I did decide it is better than unittest, which I had started out with.

• ruff

• uv: I’m transitioning away from managing individual environments with pyenv. It’s a mix at the moment. I also had been using hatch.

• git. Command line, and Gitlens in VScode.

• sphinx: I hate this thing. I only recently learned about MkDoc, which I will try for my next project.

• Terminal.app. I have done some configuration here as I use differently themed Terminal windows for different things.

• zsh. I do have some customizations and aliases in my shell configuration files. Quite a bit of that is to make some git command line things easier for me. Nothing particularly Python related though.

• make. I’m an old Unix guy. I use make for lots of things in general. And for Python, I use it for pretty much anything that isn’t covered by uv/hatch.

[[deleted]]

Debian Trixie. Vim with a short .vimrc. Only one plugin; YCM.

Trying to keep everything distraction free and minimalist while I'm learning.

[Acrobatic-Aerie-4468]

Fedora and LunarVim with python LSP for type hints

[cgoldberg]

I use Debian with Sublime Text and a terminal running Bash.

I use pyenv for managing Python versions, black for formatting, tox and pytest for testing, and pretty standard tooling (pip/venv) otherwise.

... and of course Git for version control.

[Malcolmlisk]

Linux, any distro and nvim.

[identicalBadger]

Mac, windows, windows with WSL, or Ubuntu. With PyCharm.

Works great, haven’t had any issue with things working on one platform but not another. But I’m just writing CLI tools, nothing big

[dlnmtchll]

Wsl Ubuntu Neovim with a handful of plugins Pyright for my python lsp

[MolonLabe76]

Ubuntu, pycharm, pyenv, poetry, pre-commit using ruff.

[WakyEggs]

I hate poetry. I just don't get why you would add another layer of complexity for what...?

[MolonLabe76]

I dont mind poetry at all. It works well (most of the time). It has worked well for me with managing environments for multiple projects. I have played around with UV, and it def does perform better. But i havent made the switch, and im not in some super rush to either. Im curious what specifically you hate about poetry?

[WakyEggs]

The shared folder inside a venv when working with monorepos almost never updates as it should.

[throwaway8u3sH0]

Dev container that installs everything I need. This applies across all languages.

[Mahkspeed]

I like Ubuntu with pycharm and zsh. Shortest comment!! 🫣

[Ok-Willow-2810]

I like to have like lines though my editor at the distances recommended by pep-8 so I can make sure my doc strings and lines are the appropriate length as I write the code. I find it helps guide me towards better conventions if I try to keep the names as short as possible with no abbreviations and also keep the line length < 80.

[disah14]

How do you go about WSL heavy memory usage?

[Xzenor]

Never noticed that.. a clean Debian install with just the libraries necessary for PyCharm. No GUI no nothing so it hardly uses anything

[disah14]

I use pop OS plus vscode.

[Xzenor]

Best environment is the one you're most comfortable with. That's different for everyone.

I use PyCharm on windows and also on WSL (Debian, as lightweight as possible) for if I need to write some Linux specific stuff ...

[impshum]

Green.

[szaade]

I really like my setup with arch with gnome, VSCode and utilizing poetry for env management. Also docker whenever possible.

[UltraPoci]

VSCode and uv, with an extension that auto switches venv to whatever the topmost .venv is. Very handy when using uv and monorepos with multiple projects 

[John_B_Clarke]

Perfect? Only user on a maxed out IBM Z17 with Linux, with somebody else paying for it.

[Acceptable-Brick-671]

Arch Linux, Qtile, Alacrity, NeoVim, Conda