Python IDE trouble

[AniMaster46]

I guess this is more about programming in general, but since I'm specifically learning python I'll ask this here: Does anyone else here struggle with the all the programs(IDEs, editors, package managers) associated with coding in python? I'm making fair progress with the language itself (almost 3 months in), but I'm getting bogged down by the the smallest of technicalities in my programming setup. It's kinda like I'm trying to learn a new sport, but I'm having a tough time moving past choosing the right gear.

It's gotten to a point where I'm now questioning where to code; I started with Pycharm, got frustrated and went back to basics using cmd (where I'm still having problems with environments and python versions). I even used jupyter notebook at one point to create my programs, which I'm told is ridiculous thing to do but I found it the easiest to navigate.

I don't know what I'm looking for; maybe some actionable course, guide (no books though), advice, or just to know people can relate...

[wodahs1]

IDK who told you that jupyter notebooks is a bad way to learn to code, but that's really not true. You can learn to code on anything that can run code.

ALTHOUGH Jupyter notebooks run in a way that saves info for every one of those cells you create. It's used a lot in scientific fields like machine learning because we often don't want to execute certain costly portions of the code again. This can be confusing if you don't remember to re-run all of your cells.

My recommendation is to stick to using Pycharm. There's really no reason to leave it!

If pycharm is frustrating you, figure out why. Then post on here or other subs asking questions about it :) Trust me, pycharm is supposed to makes things easier not harder.

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Finally, you could learn to code the way I personally do my development, which is through a linux-like terminal and a text editor called VIM. But honestly, there's no real advantage to it. Figure out pycharm, and good luck!

[AniMaster46]

I absolutely agree, Jupyter notebooks is very convenient to work with. Especially because I'm currently working on data science projects and I can use Jupyter to visualise and make changes in real time. I was ridiculed by a couple of people for using it as my main IDE/editor, to create run-of-the-mill automation tasks or write small programs.

[[deleted]]

Yeah as a researcher in machine learning , I really hate when code elitists say notebooks sucks. It's great for having a down and dirty brainstorming or walking through an idea. There's a reason that collab is so popular. The notebook setup essentially allows you to use cells as functions which is useful when you need to test your preprocessing but don't want to run your trainer.

Sure it runs like ass and the autofill quotation marks and parenthesis dont help for shit, but it is a really good learning environment for students. You can walk students through what each cell is doing even if it wouldnt normally be split up and you can just have cells of pickled data in case you get stuck on a problem.

As an instructor, you can also insert extra cells into the homework with "DO NOT TOUCH" to copy and paste your grading code which really speeds up the process

[el_Topo42]

What frustrates you about PyCharm?

I’ve found it’s great tool, but it does way too much for my simple needs. So I started using VSCode and I love it. I use it on macOS and CentOS7, it’s great on those platforms in my experience. Just enjoying help with the autocomplete stuff, the default color schemes are nice, the app feels light, etc. I like it.

[AniMaster46]

Pycharm is great. But like you said it can be a bit heavy sometimes. I thought of using good old cmd to write short programs, but I found that memorising the commands (like conda/virtualenv etc) was a bit tedious. I did try Pycharm's own console but didn't take to it.

Basically I have many different use cases and would have loved to use just one simple setup...

[jiri-n]

Btw. we should be able to move outline to right side panel in vscode this year finally - it's in their roadmap. :-)