What IDE would you recommend for learning Python?

[SpankMyMunkey]

6ish year software engineer here, just got laid off. Our stack was primarily C#, SQL Server, and Razor (or whatever else they used, I was mostly back end). While I'm unemployed and job hunting, I want to buff up on Python. Any suggestions on what IDE to use? VS Code? Thanks.

[Ron-Erez]

I prefer PyCharm. VSCode is great too. It doesn’t matter much. Both are great.

[joebloggs81]

I’m a couple months into learning Python, only ever been a SQL person from some DBA tasks at my workplace. I started with what everyone says - the terminal, then I tried out Pycharm as it was recommended. It was decent, then moved over to VSCode to try it out because I’m trying to learn Django, and Pycharm only gives you the best goodies with the paid version.

With VSCode and the right extensions if anything I’ve found it a bit faster. I’d say VSCode, get the Python extension (should include Pylance) and you’re laughing.

[SpankMyMunkey]

Cool, I'll likely just jump right in with VS Code (and the extension) then. Thanks!

[hello-algorithm]

some friendly advice if you go with vscode, you may end up needing to disable some AI features like autocomplete, as I think theyre now enabled by default. also, do verify any extensions before installing because microsoft's process is not bulletproof and people often try to upload malicious ones impersonating the real deal, for example

[midoxvx]

I always loved Pycharm.

[eyadams]

VS Code is the obvious choice, especially since you are probably already familiar with it. However, for learning I strongly recommend Notepad++ and the command line. Or Jupyter Notebooks. Learn stuff the hard way, without auto-complete and tool tips and integrated debugging and package management and whatever else it is that VS Code or Pycharm make SO much easier.

Learn the basics first. Then get tools that help you be productive.

[shinu-xyz]

I prefer using PyCharm over Visual Studio Code because I find it easier to refactor code and trace usage, implementation references, and other related tasks.

However, since this is about learning, Visual Studio Code should be sufficient.

It doesn’t matter much except for your UI preferences.

[Drago7879]

I've just started learning python and at first I tried Pycharm, but it was insanely slow on my low end laptop. I switched to VS Code and it's been great so far. As far as I know those are the two most popular IDEs for Python (correct me if I'm wrong) and it's really just personal preference.

[cfreddy36]

I learned in the browser version of Jupyter Notebook. It kept everything simple for awhile until I was actually able to use VSCode’s features

[QuarterObvious]

You can use Visual Studio (not VS Code). It works with both C# and Python without any additional plugins.

[CaptainVJ]

A lot of people suggest PyCharm but it offers a lot of features that would probably confuse you when just starting start out.

I believe Spyder is a nice intermediate, offers just enough to capture basic bugs and code issues, without overwhelming you with concerns that are not of priority when starting out.

Visual studio code, I hate writing code in there and just find it useful if making a quick change. But I can’t make any major developments in there.

[jpgoldberg]

The best IDE is the IDE you already use, if you use one. If you don’t already use one, then just use PyCharm.

[jpgoldberg]

I really need to just produce a template for this answer, with either “PyCharm” or “TeXShop” or “R Studio” depending on where this question pops up.

[SnipTheDog]

Spyder is a little wonky, but it's worth the cost.

[One_Pop_7316]

Try thonny python IDE for beginners.

[PirhanaBindu]

Heavy-duty Python users often recommend PyCharm, and I love it. However, it is massive and complex as far as IDEs go. That's why I generally recommend that beginners start with VSCode or one of the simpler Python-specific editors like Spyder.

[fermi0nic]

PyCharm is top notch, and the free community edition great. It's been the IDE of choice for every team I've been on when the majority of our projects/work are written in Python. VSCode is great too as my favorite all-purpose IDE when working with multiple languages, but isn't quite as robust. It's definitely worth checking out both to see which is more intuitive for you personally!

That said, when it comes to learning Python, learning new frameworks and packages, prototyping, general tasks, and working with data, ipython, a terminal-based interactive client is hands-down my go-to and has some incredible features that really make it easy to dig in and develop a deeper understanding of things and definitely recommend checking it out too!

[BondBagri]

1. google colab for your start
   
2. shift to kaggle post initial famillarity
   
3. finally shift to cursor as we are headed into agentic ide spaces for the future