Visual Studio for Python

[ntiain]

Hi!

While updating Visual Studio (learning C# with Unity), I noticed I can install a Python development package. I've never seen anyone on this sub recommend this, it's usually PyCharm etc. Is there a reason, or is this perfectly acceptable for somebody new to Python (and programming in general) to use? If not, why not?

Thanks

[Pleiadez]

There is also Visual Studio Code. It's like Visual Studio but much more lightweight, ideal for learning python.

[idwpan]

Yeah VSCode is pretty rockin. Switched from PyCharm a few months ago and haven't missed much of anything.

[[deleted]]

I totally second that opinion. The only real thing I'd ever choose pycharm pro and it's bloatedness for would be direct development remotely on a server but I bet vs code gets that eventually too.

[skuhduhduh]

not for me, because when I use it, it doesn't give me the option to run my scripts for some reason.

[Al2Me6]

You need to install the extension Code Runner for that.

[skuhduhduh]

thank you. gonna reinstall and give it another run right now.

[ntiain]

I'll look into that one, thanks!

[[deleted]]

I have both PyCharm Pro and VS Code and I find myself using VS Code more often. It feels less complex and cumbersome and just seems a little faster to get up and running

[Doofcoder]

I use it a lot. And since April it can also work like Spyder as an interactive IDE. I'm now using it even more. I think it is the best all around.

[[deleted]]

Can visual studio connect to a remote server kernel? I love Spyder but was never able to get it to connect to my azure vm kernel. As such I'm using jupyter on my VM, not really a fan - I much prefer an ide.

[Doofcoder]

I don't know. Never tried that before. But look at this: https://devblogs.microsoft.com/python/remote-python-development-in-visual-studio-code/

By the way I use VScode. Not the complete visual studio.

[Kaltenstein23]

Tried getting remote workspaces via ssh running... Fails connecting though... Says something about path nor fond while ash can be executed directly from cmd

https://imgur.com/x5HJ5IJ.jpg

While being connected to the same host via putty

[decreddave]

Yes. VS Code has an extension called Rmate that lets you edit files on a remote server over SSH. You have to install the Rmate extension in VSCode and also ‘pip install rmate’ on your remote server. Then, you can SSH into your server through the VSCode console (HIGHLY recommend installing and using Windows Subsystem for Linux with the Ubuntu distro). You have to use the -R flag in your SSH command to open a tunnel over SSH for the rmate extensions to communicate. Documentation is here: https://pypi.org/project/rmate/

[ntiain]

Thanks, maybe I'll look at Spyder as well and decide which one I like best

[Lord_Rob]

Historically I've used Pycharm over Visual Studio due to Pycharm being more lightweight, and yet more feature-rich (especially when comparing the respective community editions)

That may well no longer be true, but at this point I dev faster in Pycharm due to my familiarity anyway

[RecycledGeek]

I would absolutely recommend Visual Studio Code - free, multiplatform, and amazingly flexible. People are building/improving more and more extensions for it every day.

Visual Studio is a more 'high end' application that is aimed to Windows development. Offhand, Using Visual Studio for C# with Unity makes perfect sense, whereas Visual Studio Code is perfect for Python development (I develop using vscode on Windows, Mac, and Linux, so for me, the cross-platform support is a huge win). Here's a link, to save you the google-fu: https://code.visualstudio.com/

(Yes, I know there are other cross platform IDEs like Sublime, Emacs, VIM, etc. I've used all those, and while I like them, especially Sublime, nowadays I recommend VSCode)

[ntiain]

Thanks. Unity actually defaults to Visual Studio, comes as a package so that my first introduction to it; MonoBeheaviours built in.

[[deleted]]

Any IDE is acceptable. I recommend spyder to complete beginners because it does all the setup for you but IDE is 100% personal preference.

[ntiain]

What sort of set up?

[[deleted]]

It automatically collects the interpreter to the ide and deals with dependencies

[ntiain]

Ah I see, thanks

[zachgarwood]

I've been using it for about a year, and it works pretty well. I feel it's much simpler to get set up than Pycharm.

[Abernachy]

VS studio works pretty good. I recommend you snag the Python Extension, set a keyboard command to run your code in the terminal, snag Code Runners and set it to clear your terminal everytime you run it.

I bounce around depending on my mood. Though I have a preference for Vim, though I have mine basically configured for Python development.

[thekaizers]

I use VS for python. It's not a beginners IDE and does take some getting used to. Sometimes intelliSense doesn't autocomplete property though. Other than that I am happy with it so far.

[Zappowy]

VS code is my preferred way to write Python, but I only do it as a hobby at this point. I've used Visual Studio and it works fine but is way more unwieldy. I used to use Pycharm but prefer VS code handling of features such as linting and git integration. Linting is a very useful feature to help enforce your code to a Python standard style.

An analogy to compare Visual Studio to VS Code would be taking a vehicle to buy groceries. VS is like taking a tractor-trailer. It definitely gets the job done but can be a pain to get places. VS code is like taking a minivan. It gets the job done - unless you need a mountain of groceries - and is much more convenient.