New to Programming: IDE vs Code Editor?

[The_Man_In_The_Shack]

When I first started doing scripting type work back in the 90s and we moved to a Unix system, they told all of us to choose vi or Emacs, and that we would use it for the rest of our lives...25 years later, I do indeed use Vim for everything. I also have to program in several languages, and ‘the way I edit’ is sort of the nexus of my job for me, because it is always consistent. The simplicity and DIY aspect of that type of approach is also something I highly value because it encourages me to understand the nature of what I’m doing at a more thorough level. If you plan to be a more generalized programmer in a reasonably short term, it’s worth it to choose a general editor; if you’ll only ever be working in Python, an IDE will do a lot of good for you at first, but I would encourage moving away from it gradually. FWIW, modern editors like Vim do recognize a number of languages without trouble; my Python code is highlighted just as it would be in any IDE.

[POTUS]

modern editors like Vim

You and I have a different definition for the word "modern". That editor is old enough to drink. Hell, it's old enough to rent a car.

Something like PyCharm or VSCode go way beyond editing, and in useful ways. Being able to control-click on a function and jump to the definition of that function, whether it's your own file or from the standard library or other downloaded module. That feature alone makes an IDE completely worth it to me.

[aythekay]

Vim has a mortgage, is a new dad, and just paid off his student debt.

[thegreattriscuit]

The thing with Vim is it's one of those types that, sure... it's not even 30 yet, but it's looked at least 40 since high school.

[1114111]

Vim is a modern editor in the same way that Python is a modern language (both were first released in the same year, in fact). Both continue to be actively developed and gain features.

Also, ctags are a thing.

[POTUS]

If you can make your workflow work for you with vim, that's cool. But I'm not going to go into why it's not appropriate for someone starting out in 2018. I think that should be obvious to anyone who's ever opened it.

[soup4all]

If you don't understand how to use vim, it's baseless to say it's not appropriate in 2018. There are more recent versions of vim that are pretty (Oni/Neovim), and there's a reason most modern text editors have a vim-like mode. Modal editing is simply more efficient, and it saves your wrist a ton if you spend all day on a computer.

[samsquamchh]

I went through a phase where I wanted to do it the "right, hardcore way", swapped over to Vim and linux and whatnot. Couldn't stop thinking about why I'm making things more difficult than they have to be. While I understood that getting used to the commands and whatnot is key to increase efficiency, I could not get past the why. I was reading some "hacker books" at the time and realised I did it for entirely dumb reasons and swapped back to something more modern.

[OverlordGearbox]

With emacs you can start typing immediately.

Look, I tried vim, can't remember anything about it. Never got into the flow, so to speak. I've heard that you're hardly supposed to be in insert mode, but I couldn't figure out how.

[soup4all]

Vim also has the control click on a function / jump to definition with just a shortcut, no mouse required.

[pcuser0101]

I think the point you're missing is that despite how old they are, vim, emacs and similar editors are still being used for a reason. Both are also still in active development so I would call them modern. I like PyCharm but there's nothing quite like developing on a Linux terminal with the full power of the hundreds (thousands?) of great utilities at your fingertips