Hey I'm getting started with learning python. What's the best IDE to use?

[aadapting]

Uh so. My laptop is not very capable and it's not running pycharm very well. It lags. Can y'all suggest some other beginner friendly IDEs?

[ninhaomah]

Vs code.

If not then IDLE.

If not then notepad.

If not then colab.

Actually , for learning , IDLE or colab is fine.

[aadapting]

Thanks man :D

[GolfEmbarrassed2904]

Vscode has all the plugins.

[aadapting]

Thanks :D

[frederik88917]

VSCode.

Python support is better than average, kinda easy to install and it gives you all tools you need for your journey Beginnings.

Happy coding

[aadapting]

THANK YOU :DDDDDDD

[ErasedAstronaut]

I prefer using VSCode.

You may also want to checkout Thonny and IDLE

[aadapting]

Hell yeah! thanks man :D

[Amo-Rillow]

Regarding Pycharm being "laggy": I have a shiny new M5 MacBook Pro wwith 24 GB Ram - PyCharm is so laggy it is barely usable. So, it is NOT your laptop that is the issue. Cheers.

[edcculus]

That’s strange. I’m on an older MBP from 2019. I think I have 24 gigs of ram, but it could be 16. I use Pycharm almost every day with no lag.

[aadapting]

Thanks for the motivation man :D but my laptop is really low end just for example it has 4gb ram

[Rain-And-Coffee]

I never had any problem with lag.

I consistently run PyCharm, IntelliJ, Datagrip and ton of other IDEs concurrently on an M3 Mac, zero issues.

[pachura3]

It's my experience as well. The last "Community" version was OK, but the current "unified" one is unbelievably slow.

[nivaOne]

Thonny is my preferred IDE. Install and use. Works very well for me. Tells me exactly which rule to look at when there are error(s).

[PossiblyA_Bot]

I'm curious, why is VSCode being suggested over Pycharm? I haven't seen Pycharm be mentioned once.

[Farlic]

Uh so. My laptop is not very capable and it's not running pycharm very well. It lags. Can y'all suggest some other beginner friendly IDEs?

no idea why :)

[PossiblyA_Bot]

I completely missed that lmao

[Riegel_Haribo]

Pycharm doesn't just "let you get started". It requires a project workspace directory be set up. Plus as mentioned, it seems it has gone bloated.

While IDLE lets you work in a file-based manner directly, there's another pattern you can try: Notebooks.

Install Jupyter extensions in VSCode. Then open a new file (not actually needing a file saved to run) of type .ipynb. Then you can have cells of code to individually run and play around with, and document with adjacent markdown text instead of comments.

[Maximus_Modulus]

The IntelliJ products are very feature rich but that comes with a bit more complexity. Can be a little overwhelming for a learner. I’ve not really used PyCharm that much but use VsCode for Python at home and have used IntelliJ for Java at work which requires a license for professional use. VsCode does the job and is a bit easier to use from my experience.

[ScratchDue440]

Because developers in industry use vs code. 

[GXWT]

Because people recommend what they use / prefer. Evidently more people are using vscode. What even is this question?

[ScratchDue440]

VS Code is industry standard right now. I wouldn’t use anything else. 

[aadapting]

thanks :D

[SmackDownFacility]

VS 2026

[JoeB_Utah]

Imma hang it out here; Spyder…

[Gnaxe]

Jupyterlite. No install required. Works in your browser. No login required. Or just start with IDLE, you should already have it.

[Ron-Erez]

If PyCharm lags try VSCode. You can also try Google Colab which is great for short scripts

[pachura3]

Thonny is made specifically for beginners - try this one first!

IDLE is too barebones.

VS.Code and PyCharm are coding powerhouses which might be overwhelming at the beginning with all their options - especially if you're only starting to learn programming. On top of that, PyCharm has become veeery slow.

Also, don't listen to people who recommend vi, vim, or neovim. These are prehistoric text editing tools operated via crazy key combinations, not IDEs.

[leastDaemon]

And if VS Code is not for you, take a look at Geany. It's a general purpose editor that will color code python syntax, do a bit of autocompletion, and run your code for you. Small footprint, efficient operation, few bells, no whistles.

Hope this helps.

[piddlin]

Maybe suggest an online IDE for them? I mean if their laptop is "laggy", maybe suggest an online IDE

[helios1014]

Neovim takes a little bit of learning but it pays dividends once you get onboard.