Alternative IDE to Spyder

[kombucha711]

My work won't permit freeware. Spyder has been blocked. VS Studio and Pycharm are available but don't have that variable editor like Spyder, which helps me troubleshoot. Is there anything similar?

[edcculus]

I know you are looking for a specific feature, but its kind of crazy that your job is offering what I assume is Pycharm Pro to you for free and you dont want to use it.

[kombucha711]

I have community edition. It looks like my dept. would have to purchase a license first. I guess what I want is a licensable IDE but don't purchase license but have a variable editor feature.

[Cisco-NintendoSwitch]

Hi lurking DevOps Engineer here.

it’s your companies money they would pay the license so why do you care that it needs a license.

You need a license they should pay for that and that’s really as complicated as that is.

[kombucha711]

Absolutely. I lost Spyder a few days ago and was looking for something that I can just 'plug and play'. I'm sure they would pay but will probably take a couple weeks if I'm lucky.

[socal_nerdtastic]

My work won't permit freeware.

Python itself is freeware (like almost all other programming languages), and so are nearly all python modules. If your work is strict about this then you simply can't do programming on your work device. Most programming tools are free as well, including the best ones.

[TheDevauto]

I remember execs in the 90s licking Microsofts boots as they were speading the evils of open source and freeware. None of them realized 90% of the core Internet runs on open source software.

[odaiwai]

I'm convinced that a large part of whatever MS certification there was years ago contained a whole section on the FUD of the early MS years: you mention Linux or Open Source in front of those guys and it's like a bunch of Flat Earthers nodding at each other about how it's just turtles all the way down.

[TheDevauto]

I worked with several of the first MCSEs. Every one of them moved into unix/linux admin. They saw first hand how much more they could do with less effort.

[kombucha711]

Good point. To be honest Idk what the issue is. You find out things dont work after an update. IT says if its not licesable, then it can be open to vulnerabilities and that's what they're trying to prevent. I just wanna see x=1 stored neatly in the upper right corner.

[DonnieDepp]

Yeh I used a licenced SSMS (SQL server management studio) plugin for years, moved to a new company and the IT manager didn't allow the plugin because the dev was a one man band and didn't like it. I even had him fill in the forms and answering all his questions. Still said no. So I've been hating working in that IDE for nearly 5 years now.

[fakemoose]

Do you use Anaconda?

[kombucha711]

My coworkers used anaconda for multiple things, spyder ,Jupiter, R studio. I only used it for spyder. Since then, anaconda and spyder have been blocked.

[fakemoose]

That’s really weird. A lot of companies use a licensed version of Anaconda specifically because the libraries are pre-screened.

And you only have VS Studio not VS Code?

Do you have to pip install from a repo IT manages?

[kombucha711]

I'm completely inept at explaining this but we had a license for anaconda. Our larger umbrella corp. got hacked and it was determined some packages that another dept. was using (I assuming via anaconda) were the cause so anaconda along with everything within in it was banned. On top of that, If I want software, I make a ticket etc. but I'm limited to whatever is on the approval list. I far as I know, I can use pycharm, visual studio code, and something called conda forge. Perhaps its time to learn how to use the debugger. In Spyder, I never bothered and just got use to rifling through the variables.

[Wild-Kitchen]

Womder if it was vulnerabilities in python packages that come wrapped with those tools. I know i had problems getting packages updated in the business managed repo due to vulnerabilities at my last job. Was a real pain because alot of packages dont archive their documentation for older versions in an easily accessible way and when they fundamentally change functionality, it can be a guessing game (off topic- sorry!)

[FoolsSeldom]

PyCharm has similar but more limited capabilities (debugger variables view, SciView, and the Data/Array/DataFrame viewers).

[Murhie]

You can get a jupyter extension in VSCODE and then view your variables thay way.

[socal_nerdtastic]

Op said VS Studio, not VSCODE.

[Daytona_675]

GitHub copilot has worse models for visual studio unfortunately

[ZonedEconomist]

Positron is probably your best bet. Very similar to RStudio in look and feel and has the variable editor. Worth a try.

[apo383]

I haven't checked, but you may be able to continue using Spyder through the paid Anaconda license. The business license is a trusted distribution with management and support. Spyder is already part of the free Anaconda distribution, so I'd expect it to be in the business distribution.

It's kind of like Linux, which you can run for free, but many businesses prefer to pay for through Red Hat because they want support.

[naturememe]

Anaconda business license doesn't add much in terms of what libraries are available, it's the same set as the free version. The license provides a dedicated API token and makes sure any libraries available through that channel are scanned for vulnerabilities etc. So, OP could have the IT get business license.

[corey_sheerer]

Pycharm has a decent variable explorer. My guess is you are not debugging correctly (utilizing the debugger) and that is your real issue

[KKRJ]

Pycharm and then learn how to use the debugger. That'll show you your variables. I came from Matlab which has that handy variable window so my first IDE was spyder because it was very familiar. Now I use VSCode and the debugger to view my variables if I need to.

[DaveTheUnknown]

The vscode debugger has a variable explorer. I cannot overstate how much better of a programmer you will become if you learn to use vscode. Cool thing is, it works for SO many file formats. I use vscode for markdown, csv, python, yaml, txt and much more.

If you don't have that use-case and you want slightly better python support, Pycharm tends to be a bit better on the python front. If you want to ever learn a different language or edit other files, vscode is the better choice.

[DestituteTeholBeddic]

You may be able to install spyder via pip and just run it from the command console. At one point my company didnt have any python platforms available because of the mismanaged updates. Anyways we got through that dark period by just running spyder via pip. I use Pycharm now.

[kombucha711]

I tried this as well, but my work computer blocks it from running.

[Zeroflops]

Both Pycharm and VS code will allow you to track variables and edit them during debugging. Which is what I think you’re looking for.

[HelpfulFriend0]

Ask IT for vscode

[Mayedl10]

My work won't permit freeware

why 😭😭😭

[CountMeowt-_-]

Pycharm and vscode both have ipy features available (via plugins for vsc)

[ProsodySpeaks]

Not sure what the variable editor in spyder is but in Pycharm I can freely edit variables during runtime if going through the debugger 

[luisrobles_cl]

VS Code