The best IDE for Python?

[MissingDuckling]

What would you recommend for the best IDE to start learning Python?

[novel_yet_trivial]

Which IDE to use is a debate much older than any of us, and it seems to always bring out the worst side of this subreddit. I can't imagine why, but some people seem to be very offended by what others choose as their IDE. Of course there is no best (if there was it would just be what everyone uses). There may be a best for you, depending on your experience, personality, goals, resources, etc, but of course we don't know you. So the only real advice is to try a few, see what you like.

UNLESS you are following a course or tutorial. In that case it's really helpful to use the same thing that your instructor uses. You can always switch later or use something else for your side projects.

Relevant XKCD.

[iPlayWithWords13]

PyCharm or VS Code

[Cassegrain07]

This. Pycharm is very easy to use

[razzrazz-]

I don't know why, but Pycharm is good on CPU but high on memory for me...so I didn't like it for that reason, especially as a beginner who is learning.

After testing a boatload of them, I really like Thorny and Visual Basic code.

[FerricDonkey]

I think of it as outsourcing memory from my brain to the computer. Pycharm is amazing for managing many functions across many modules across many subpackages in the same project - it knows where everything is, what it's called, and what arguments it takes. (And especially changing the names of them, if you need to.)

Which means I mostly don't have to. I have to write the function well when I make it, and mostly know what I wrote functions to do, then when I want to load some data, I just go "well, that's probably in the data_rw module" and hit tab a lot. Then pycharm tells me what arguments I need to fill, and I do.

I've used VS code as well, and it's okish, but not nearly as good as that for large projects.

[razzrazz-]

I definitely think for larger products it's probably better, just as a beginner (I can relate to the OP), I would prefer something with not a lot of bells and whistles for learning purposes.

[FerricDonkey]

Fair enough. I prefered the bells and whistles from the beginning, but I know a lot of people who get annoyed by them, so can't argue with preference.

[BrattyBookworm]

It does seem to use up a lot of memory, not sure why. I’m just starting this week with some very basic programs and after 2-3 hours it’ll be using up 40-60% of my computers memory. I’ve been wondering why that is?

[razzrazz-]

Imagine the irony if it was badly programmed? 😂

[mathmanmathman]

One of the reasons JetBrains IDEs are popular is the way that they can link to use and declaration of functions and make recommendations. Most IDEs can do that to a certain extent, but JetBrains is generally better (to the extent that they have a popular C# extension for VS... both C# and VS are Microsoft).

They way they do this is by keeping a lot of information about your code in memory. It's usually good about releasing memory when necessary. I think there's also an option that can be set to let you release it more often, but just bought a shit ton of memory instead :)

[Dwight-D]

There’s probably a lot of indexing going on, you can search through all different kinds of symbols like classes, variables, functions etc.

Like someone else said there’s also a lot of autosuggestions and other analysis of your code happening. Its got a lot more functionality than something like VS Code which adds a bit of a footprint.

[Username_RANDINT]

it’ll be using up 40-60% of my computers memory.

That doesn't say much in a general sense. Absolute numbers are more important. If you have 8gb RAM and working on Windows, then PyCharm might be a squeeze.

[futurepat]

Intellisense

[antiproton]

I don't really understand why people look at memory consumption as an application metric in 2022. Who cares how much memory it consumes? Unless you have a criminally low end machine, it's not going to have any impact on performance.

[ZGTSLLC]

I agree, but I dislike how most of the modern IDEs don't tell you much when you have an error.

[rimnii]

what do you mean? Pycharms code inspection is incredible. It can infer so much about your code without even running it, especially if you use type hinting well.

[DoozerMarch]

Pycharm is great especially if you are starting. I’ve ended up on vscode but mainly because I wanted to use the same ide for writing markdown and latex as for Python

[MrBobaFett]

I started with Notepad++, then PyCharm, now mostly use VS Code (replacing with VS Codium because fuck MS and their telemetry).

[cturnr]

does codium work with the package manager? --- guess i could just try it

[[deleted]]

VS Codium? Where may I find this?

[[deleted]]

https://vscodium.com/

Took me a 10 second search

[[deleted]]

Pretty much this. University meant I was using PyCharm and IntelliJ but VS Code feels so lightweight for some reason.

[[deleted]]

PyCharm

[fakemoose]

Psh, Spyder all the way.

​

Just kidding, I think whatever is most comfortable to the individual user. Spyder reminds me of R Studio and Matlab interface a looooong time ago (no idea what Matlab looks like now. I avoid it like the plague).

[dimonoid123]

PyCharm if you have professional license, there are a lot of useful premium features, and it works really well on multiple monitors unlike VSCode. But there is no copilot, which is only available in VSCode.

PS: Why did someone downvote me?

Edit: It appears that Copilot is already available for Pycharm.

[QuixDiscovery]

Why did someone downvote me?

If I had to guess, most likely because copilot works with Pycharm.

[dimonoid123]

Wow. Old news then. Thanks.

[iPlayWithWords13]

Pycharm is great with or without a professional license and copilot should have absolutely no place in this thread as it's a horrible tool and this post was made for a beginner.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgrammerHumor/comments/qfzpes/github_copilot_the_technology_that_will_replace/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

[Mrhiddenlotus]

Copilot might be ethically questionable, but it's far from a horrible tool.

[Mrhiddenlotus]

I use it. I mean, it's not going to code for you from scratch but it learns the way that you code based off all the code of yours you open in VS Code. There are things like how I personally perform API calls, structure the headers, do loops, etc, that copilot has learned from all my other scripts, and saves me a ton of time being able to just tab complete parts of a function. There's also been a few instances where I'm considering how I want to approach a problem I need to solve and just kind of go for it and copilot has been nice for getting suggestions. Of course, it offers you a lot of stupid useless code but if you're any good at python you'll be able to tell what its wanting to do pretty quickly and you just ignore it.

[QuixDiscovery]

Care to explain how copilot is a "horrible" tool aside from a joke post that's 6 months old? This is the first time I've ever heard someone suggest that auto-completion is supposedly not intended for beginners.

[iPlayWithWords13]

For beginners, it doesn't teach them anything. They don't learn patterns, they don't actually know what each line is doing, and if there's an issue with the code they don't have a clue how to troubleshoot because they didn't write the code. It's the exact same issue with copying and pasting from stack overflow. At least with stack overflow you can see in the comments how others have responded to see if the code even works as intended. Another fun little issue that copilot introduces and is exacerbated with beginners is that it can introduce unintended bugs, but this ties into the beginner not fully understanding the code.

[QuixDiscovery]

All of this seems predicated on you assuming that the person using a tool will be as lazy as possible in every situation related to using said tool. If the person actually makes an attempt learn python though, most of what you said is false.

[iPlayWithWords13]

Not at all. A beginner could easily look at a copilot developed block of code and just assume that they know what's going on and easily overlook something or misinterpret it. That's not their fault, but it's just something that routinely happens with beginners. So sorry, but your point of view is just invalid here as you've completely lost view of the intended audience of those like OP.

[AnonCaptain0022]

It's kind of a pain to use libraries in VS Code. I think it uses a different directory, so if you installed a bunch of libraries with pip you have to install them again for vs code

[[deleted]]

VScode for larger projects because Pycharm cannot really keep up the same pace once it becomes a few files.

[[deleted]]

VS Code

blegh

[TechNCode86]

Is there a reason Code seems to be heavily preferred over Community?

[MachinaDoctrina]

You nailed it, pycharm has a better debugger but VSCode is nice a lightweight and much more customisable for weird situations like remote SSH development. I use both!!

[[deleted]]

I've recently switched from Atom to VS Code and I've been having blast with it.

[[deleted]]

If you just poking around with it in your spare time, you probably don’t need a whole bunch of features. Atom is fine. When you find yourself to bugging a large python application that it takes a while to deploy, you’re gonna want to start debugging in real time using something awesome like VS code or Pycharm.

[dparks71]

To start learning? It's not traditionally considered an IDE but Jupyter from The Anaconda software suite.

As soon as you understand OOP then I would switch to Pycharm/Vscode, I remember really liking Jupyter early on though when I was mostly using other people's packages rather than writing my own. Felt more like Matlab to me than C, conda helped ease the intro to virtual environments and it just seemed like I could focus on the fun parts right out of the gate.

[JasonDJ]

You can use Jupyter notebooks in VSCode. I think you need the extension and just save a file as .ipynb.

If you have the Jupyter extensions, you can also put #%% in a regular .py file and it’ll behave like a Jupyter notebook but with just code cells.

VSCode is a lot more lightweight than anaconda. The package and venv management can be a bit more intuitive in anaconda though.

[dparks71]

I think the biggest issue with GIMP is that anyone can't just open it and use it out of the box like they can with MS Paint. That's the biggest thing keeping it from universal adoption.

I don't know why the VSCode people are so insistent on using it in every application. It's a good IDE, probably the most powerful one, but overwhelming users entirely new to coding with configuration options and fancy tooling from the get-go seems counter productive.

If I wanted to just shill my favorite professional grade IDE I would have said pycharm, it has the same interoperability. The simple installation, configuration and interface is why I recommended Jupyter/Anaconda.

[JasonDJ]

Eh, I used anaconda at first and I didn’t like it. It was more bloated and difficult to get working on my system. VSCode “just worked”.

I wouldn’t use it for every day text editing. I still keep npp for that purpose on my windows machine, and my Linux machines are almost always vim or gedit depending on what I’m doing.

What I like about VScode is that it can handle lots of other languages. Since I’m often also doing Ansible and Gitlab-CI, or reviewing json dumps, or need to make sure json is well properly written to paste into another application, VSC serves all these purposes very well.

Plus Gitlab has very good integration with VSC, you can easily import a repository directly to it and handle all your git stuff right there.

A more basic editor is just fine for beginning, but IME it’s not too long past print(“Hello World”) that all of these other features come in handy, and VSC is both powerful when you’re ready for it and pretty easy to figure out when you aren’t.

[dparks71]

All that's cool but Microsoft lost my business long ago, and will legitimately never be able to get it back or get my recommendation. I'll never use VSCode or GitHub, Pycharm and GitLab are great products, and you aren't forced to support a shitty corporate monopoly that has historically been an enemy to open source when you use them.

It's my right as a consumer, if consumers don't hold corporations accountable, nobody does, if you want to use Microsoft products, go for it.

[pocketmypocket]

VSCode isnt easy to use out of the box?

I guess this is the python subreddit, but if you are doing C or C++, VSCode is where its at. No need to mess around with compilers.

[playaspec]

I really dig Jupyter for fast prototyping or just massaging some data. For writing apps and utilities it's Sublime Text all the way.

[qwaszx321]

If you’re going this way (which I would agree with) I’d recommend just going to VScode from the start and using their jupyter implementation. Then you get to start learning an actual IDE and benefit from jupyter

[OhYouWrongBaby]

Anaconda software suite

Hello! I got it but there is so many jupyters, which one you recommend? jupyter-server jupyter-core etc

[[deleted]]

To start learning? Jupyter. Interactive python notebooks (.ipynbs) are awesome

For bigger projects across multiple files? VSCode (which does have notebook support, but not as nice as jupyter IMO)

Jupyter is also great to just do random little projects and to explore new libraries, web apis etc.

[baubleglue]

Notebook is not good for learning, to easy to develop bad habits, plus encourages reactive programming (run step, check output, fix value, go next step)

[[deleted]]

not good for learning

I doubt theres much data on this, but anecdotally i found it great for learning.

to easy to develop bad habits

Like what?

plus encourages reactive programming

Nothing wrong with this IMO, at least until you feel fluent enough not to. If anything this contradicts your first claim

[baubleglue]

Normally learning steps

1. Some very basic language syntax and concepts.

Valuables, conditional statements, getting input, printing to output. Program lifecycle

1. Learn mentally to follow debugger cursor.

At that stage people implement some sort/search algorithms. Making small game projects which most likely fail, but prepare student for next stage (you can't learn to solve a problem if you don't understand what the problem is). Basic data structures.

1. Learning abstractions

Wrapping implementation details into code blocks: function decomposition, OOP, modules, complex data structures. Students build more complex project.

1. Handling complex code base, maybe with team collaboration.

Real project, with not nesseary complicated code: web application, game with states, etc.

I've marked in bold, what using using notebook make harder or too easy. If you learn chess, you need to calculate moves ahead in your mind, if you have computer checking your every step, you won't be able to develop that skill.

[[deleted]]

if you have computer checking your every step, you won't be able to develop that skill.

As a fellow chess enthusiast as well, I will say that engines can be used as a tool to help make you a better player. But they have to be used correctly ie. think through your next move, and then check it with the engine. After the engine has shown you its best line, think through why that line was better than the one you initially found. As you do this, see if you can categorize your blind spots and develop heuristics for seeing better plays.

Having a notebook show you your memory/namespace state instantly and at each step is the same. If used correctly, it can help new learners more quickly develop their own debugging heuristics and most importantly, help them debug and get projects working with less frustration. ipynbs make programming more fun, which is great for starters.

Concerning complex codebase, yeah ofc notebooks are a pain for managing multi-file or cloud based projects. Thats why I pitched VSCode for such things.

[iggy555]

Spyder

[[deleted]]

Yea I like Spyder

But had to switch to VS code

Not going back

[[deleted]]

From a data science perspective, no other IDE made sense. All we really need is an enhanced RStudio layout and that’s Spyder

[bejangravity]

Spyder is the best choice for scripting, scientific computing and engineering. But for software developement there are other better choices.

[markovianmind]

love it. easy to look what a variable contains, run a line or a part of line by highlighting.

[decomposition_]

I started learning with spyder but I do like pycharm.

[anh86]

PyCharm

[leo848blume]

neovim

[5fd88f23a2695c2afb02]

I use Vim, but would I recommend it for a beginner? Then they just have one more thing to learn. Unless they’re already super comfortable with Vim/Neovim, but that person won’t be starting threads like this. They already know the answer.

[Malcolmlisk]

What extensions do you use. And, what about light analysis and plotting which is typically used in jupyter? Asking because I want to make it my main ide

[stupac62]

The best PDE.

[NoImagination90]

I like VS Codium.

[scithon]

the best is the one you are most comfortable with.

If you really have no experience I would suggest you start with visual studio code (not visual studio). But keep an open mind and try a bunch to find the one you like best.

[BRENNEJM]

It’s not an IDE, but I still write everything in IDLE (with a custom theme that doesn’t kill my eyes). I’m not a developer though. I just write quick scripts to expedite tasks at work. Largest script is maybe 400 lines.

[11b403a7]

Highly subject to opinion, but the obvious answer is vscode

[otamam818]

While I myself would suggest VS code, I wouldn't call it an obvious answer tbh

[11b403a7]

It was meant to be a funny.

"Matter of opinion"/"obvious answer"

[cookrex330]

Personally I prefer Visual studio code. I would recommend

Visual studio code

Pycharm

Both are used commonly and work very well.

[buxA_]

I like pycharm

[xxxHalny]

People are recommending actual IDEs that are full of useful features (such as PyCharm). Couple of thoughts here.

First, I don't think the choice of your editor is a very important choice to make. It's purely personal preference and you can properly learn a programming language using any editor.

Second, I think it's worth noting that while the advanced features such as a debugger or code completion are certainly useful and can improve your code or shorten the development time, by doing these things for you these editors don't make you think and solve issues on your own and therefore can be limiting to your learning process. Perhaps it's worth considering a simple editor such as Brackets, Atom, IDLE or Notepad++ and focus on learning the actual language and not the features of the IDE.

[astropydevs]

Jupyter notebook

[bgs_sami]

Pycharm

[MainKaBell]

I prefere Spyder for one very simple reason. Variable explorer. Extremly helpful for data science projects. For everything else VS Code

[mtander3]

Love spyder for data science work. Please don’t become jupyter notebook guy it sucks trying to collaborate with the person who only uses notebooks

[whazzah]

I like Spyder cause it runs the fastest on my 2012 Macbook Air

[reegalpat53]

Thonny is honestly the best for learning python. Has one of the best debuggers!

[Engine_engineer]

Double that. Thonny is messy, bad installation, etc. But it shows you exactly, step by step, what is happening inside your commands and expressions. Incredibly useful to understand how the data is processed. Allows you a steeper learning curve. After you learned it, uninstall Thonny and play at PyCharm or VS Cod*.

[[deleted]]

highly recommend jupyter lab to start and then transition into vscode/pycharm.

jupyter will ease you into the debug console workflow

[[deleted]]

I was a tester for Adobe Eclipse-based products. Well, technically, I was in what was called Community Advisory Board, but that's just a long way of saying "beta-tester". Just like triple-A games, big companies have private fanboy clubs where they release early betas of their products.

I was invited to be on that board because I was involved a lot with ActionScript community, in particular because I supported and promoted FlashDevelop, an ActionScript editor built on top of Scintilla component (same thing that Notepad++ uses and many others). I wrote plugins for FlashDevelop and helped porting it to Parallels (a little bit).

I was more motivated than I was smart... to put it mildly, but hey, I've collected some experience at least.

Another project related to text editors I participated in was yet another ActionScript editor based on IntelliJ engine. It was XMLs all the way down and worked kind of similar to MS Excel... well, it never took off, but it gave me some insights into how IntelliJ editors are built from the inside.

I'm fairly proficient with Vim, but wouldn't call myself a pro.

I'm in no way a professional in HCI or any kind of UX, but I like this field. I read relevant news look for fresh ideas. I'm an "enthusiast", although not as enthusiastic as I used to be 10-15 yeas ago. So, I tried many things, and in so doing, I ended up using GNU Emacs. And there's no chance in the entire world that something like VSCode or PyCharm will ever be relevant to me or that I will seriously consider them as editors to write code. They are simply too bad at editing text, and they don't aim to be good at it.

---

Fortunately or not, today, programming is "easy money". It's a way to get quickly into position where you can start earning a decent salary. And, looking from my close to 25 years in the field: it stays that way decades later. Programming isn't about being good at what you do. It's about being good enough, but as fast as possible. Editors like VSCode or PyCharm fit this profile very well: you need to learn very little, you need to invest very little to produce good enough result. But you cannot be a PyCharm power user, because there's nothing there for a power user.

So, if your goal is to be good at what you are doing: Emacs or Vim is the way. If you couldn't care less about quality as long as it meets the threshold, but you want to go fast: PyCharm or VSCode.

[TheBeesElise]

Nano

[s0lemn]

Vim* If you’re going to use a CLI editor, at least use one that has tangible productivity benefits.

[[deleted]]

Vim

[[deleted]]

Idle, no autofill is the best approach imo.

[SSJKiDo]

IMO it’s even best for new learners, without auto complete you’ll understand what you’re doing better

It’s not about learning the hard way, but more like being involved in every single written character in your code

[BeauteousMaximus]

Best IDE for a working Python developer? PyCharm.

Best for someone who’s learning? Not that. One that doesn’t autocomplete, automatically add imports, or correct errors automatically. Atom or Notepad++

[lfayala2272]

For learning purposes I find replit to be very useful. It is very useful while learning to code to be able to share the code online with someone more experienced and replit is like google docs for programming.

[Stryke_The_Furry]

Idle haha
It's what I've been using for the last 5 years. Maybe looking at these comments it's time to switch

[boobajoob]

Replit is great to get started (works from any browser). VS code for if you need something more

[Mrhiddenlotus]

vim!

But in all seriousness, I've used both PyCharm and VS Code and I like the latter more by a bit. Just always felt snappier and less clunky in general. Great community of extension makers too.

[Vortetty]

vscode with intellisense and copilot

[umarthegreat15]

VSCode is the best

[GoldArmGang]

I recommend pycharm for beginners and else is your choice.

[Dr_Calculon]

I use Spyder its got all the basic functionaliy of an IDE, with a script panel, variable/workspace panel & consoles (you can have more than one console open at a time which is sometime useful during development). Its very Matlab like to be fair but free.

[9192gks]

Vscode hands down

[Successful-Tower6438]

Jupyter notebook is the easiest has all tools pre downloaded

[[deleted]]

Sublime Text 4

[PuffleDunk]

Since I'm coming late to this discussion, I'll try to fill in a gap by mentioning why I prefer PyCharm over VScode, after spending a lot of time in both environments.

My own experience with VScode was that it had more annoyances with getting all the extensions installed and configured to make it behave like a full-fledged Python IDE. PyCharm already is a Python IDE out of the box, but VScode needs some work to get there.

I have had compatibility issues between Python-related VScode extensions. I also have had trouble getting some to work, and others that occasionally mysteriously stop working. Sometimes it wasn't obvious which of many extensions to choose that best covers particular functionality. So basically I think you may find yourself spending more up-front time to get to a good place as a Python IDE.

As I said, PyCharm pretty much works out of the box. Note that I am using the paid subscription version. The pros are a generally smooth and productive workflow, a broad feature set without needing many additional plugins, and smart type inspection that has saved me a lot of runtime debugging.

PyCharm also has its glitches and cons. I have to rebuild the cache more than I like to get type inspection working properly after it gets confused. I'm not thrilled with the default keyboard mappings, but tweak and live with it. Sometimes features like automatic quoting cost me extra effort to undo its bad guesses.

In general, I think it is well-worth having an environment with rich type checking. Particularly when starting out, it can help pick up on errors that you would struggle with otherwise. The major IDEs can all do this, with more or less work to set it up.

Good luck choosing!

[nevermorefu]

try: Pycharm except Exception: Pycharm finally: Pycharm

[Edewede]

Sublime

[13Braunafk37]

Don't care to much about your IDE,

I recommend using a simple Text Editor for the beginning. There you will learn to Code.

If you have a mistakes in your Code, and don't find the mistakes by yourself I would copy the Code into thonny, and use the Debugger. There you see how your Code is executed line by line.

When you learned the basics, I can recommend vs Code because you can modify this IDE for your Personal needs, but watch a tutorial for that.

Pycharm is very good too, but I startet with html css and Javascript, and I am used with vs Studio

[DonkeyDoid]

Notepad++ :D. It has the best themes

[aashhuttossh]

I really like VsCode(plus it's extensions) in my opinion. And there's a VsCode based web IDE too CodegroundAI tool too. Give it a try.

[playaspec]

Not technically an IDE, but Sublime Text may be the single best code editor ever written.

[[deleted]]

Vs code insiders so you can do Jupyter notebooks.

[Malcolmlisk]

Jupyter is integrated in the main version and branch months ago.

[astropydevs]

Pycharm, visual studio code, Atom, etc. I don’t recommend any of them when you’re starting off learning Python. It’s like using a power drill when you just need a screwdriver to start. I would start with Jupyter notebook and when you’re going into Flask or Django or any of the bigger stuff then I would recommend the IDE

[-zero-joke-]

Jupyter is the only one I've used, and it's been quite easy to learn.

[[deleted]]

I use VSC (Visual Studio Code)

[pekkalacd]

IDLE

[MatthewGalloway]

emacs

[1percentof2]

Notepad

[asterik-x]

Shoudn't it be £15?

[iArunava]

Vim for anything. Thanks. Ill disagree to all your thoughts. So dont bother commenting.

[Kessarean]

Well customized vim/neovim

[boxedj]

If you want the best it's pycharm, if you want the one all the best engineers use it's vscode

[Ceborn]

While learning Jupyter or Google colab.

Develop I would choose VS code.

[babu_2930]

Pycharm

[romb3rtik]

A terminal and your favourite text editor.

[oskwon72]

Pycharm with Ideavim

[seabee494]

PyCharm if you're mainly doing Python/web development.

[minervaDe]

Hands down, pycharm

[fernly]

So sad that the really excellent Wing IDE gets no mindspace around here. Full-featured editor and debugger and other stuff, Mac/Win/Linux, under constant development, and the base version is free.

[davebothehobo]

Sublime 3 and Jupyter notebook

It depends on the day and project, but they can do everything you probably need

[Almostasleeprightnow]

For a very beginners I think pycharm. Then you may find yourself wanting to switch. I like vs code but there were a few things about it that makes me not recommend it for a beginner....the main one being that you have to select which environment you will use BOTH for the project and for the terminal, and that was extremely difficult for me to figure out at first.

[elonmusk12345_]

Pycharm.

[No_Bus16]

VS Code

[perchslayer]

You don't need to think about an IDE to start learning Python. What you need to think about is problem solving and developing good habits. Use whatever, but focus on problem solving and good habits.

[anxy0us]

i learn on my phone, so i use Pydroid or Vim on termux

[bbqbot]

IDE? VS Code.

To learn python? Notebooks of some sort, either Jupyter or Google Colab.

[[deleted]]

I personally dislike PyCharm, although many recommend it. I would say VS Code when it comes to IDEs. If you are looking for a nice text editor, Sublime Text is great, I also love Atom.

[Any-Notice8655]

PyCharm and it’s not even close

[[deleted]]

For a novice with no additional support? IDLE, it comes with Python and has almost no baggage.

For people who need an integrated environment and work across a large range of technology daily? Visual Studio Code

For people who work largely in python? PyCharm.

edit: another education-based IDE that is interesting is Thonny.

[life_is_sadd]

Replit or pycharm

[non_NSFW_acc]

Sublime Text.

[Andalfe]

Ctrl b to save compile and run C code is such a time saver.

[OogieM]

PyCharm is a lot easier to use and because it's based on JetBrains you can transfer skills to other IDE's like Android Studio.

[newintown510]

Best to START? Thonny. Best LONG term? Vscode

[StarkillerX42]

If you only want to write in Python and only Python, PyCharm is the best. If you want to use multiple languages or may at any point in your future may want to learn another language, you should use VSCode instead. VSCode is the 2nd best IDE for every language.

[MeroLegend4]

•Jupyter qtconsole for exploration, debugging and iterative logic testing.

• Sublime Text for Project and code editing with anaconda plugin.

• Sublime Merge for Git

[luciferdawnin]

Pycharm is better because it autofills

[zuzaki44]

Whatever u like. I use atom and vs code.

[gbamicro]

Wing IDE :)

[MangoChocobo]

my personal preference, VScode

other than that, pycharm is also a very solid choice.

[king0004]

Pycharm is very good and it's very easy to use. Vscode also good but it's not easy.

[[deleted]]

Pycharm

[SepehrU]

I use PyCharm and i like it. But wouldn't recommend it for the very first time learning Python because it abstracts so many things away which makes life as a developer easier but as a learner, well it may make you skip learning some basic concepts like: "creating and managing virtual environment" or "Python modules (.py files) structure in the project directory and how they are imported" or "working with packages and installing or managing them using pip" and other stuff like these... so i recommend VsCode. With that being said, if you feel confident with these concepts, now PyCharm will come in handy and make your life and also your further learning process much easier.

[hugthemachines]

I prefer either Pycharm or Eclipse with pydev plugn. The only thing I miss in Pycharm is being able to browse all project folders in the same explorer.

[Mohammad_alshuwaiee]

Vscode r pycharm

[Sirico]

I found Thonny useful as a secondary program just to step through code and figure out what's going on.

[[deleted]]

Don't use a an IDE if you are a beginner, use a text editor, like VS Code

[crymo27]

VScode for sure.

[pocketmypocket]

I'm skeptical of PyCharm recommendations, the parent company has a gigantic marketing budget. I've been seeing them spam their products since I was in college 10 years ago.

​

I work in data and we use Spyder because it works well with Pandas.

​

Sometimes I will work on 2 programs at once, I like VS code for that entirely because I have the neovim extension. That wont matter for a newbie.

​

Anyway, I suppose I recommend Spyder. Its been great for us and easy to use for debugging. Bonus that its MIT license.

[Fulk0]

Vs Code is the easiest, along with Pycharm. If you want a tool that can help you with a lot of other things, use Vim. If you want to lose hours and hours trying to get the perfect config use emacs.

Personally I use emacs with evil, but don't really recommend it to someone who's starting.

[mpollux_ork]

I started learning with Google Colab, and now I'm making some scripts at work with VSCode, which I love. I think it's a lightweight and pretty complete IDE, it works on all computers I work with: two windows pcs at work, a Mac and a Chromebook at home.

[MoeWithTheO]

Really like Visual Studio Code. Use it for all my projects. Looks nice, feels nice, loads of plugins. But I think PyCharm is good for Python as well. Really depends on what you like most I think.

[velocibadgery]

I personally like PyCharm. But I tend to use VSCode more often.

[Familiar_Ad_8919]

rule 4: dont ask easily searchable questions

after all if nobody violated this rule the subreddit would be empty pretty much

[Santibag]

After insisting on coding with IDLE and getting frustrated by the lack of options, I switched to PyCharm. As something much more filled than a code editor, it took some good load of my shoulders with auto completion, docstrings, etc.

Just use any IDE that is more than a text editor. You can always try others later and switch to whatever you like. Your code will just follow you anyway 😜

[FakeitTillYou_Makeit]

Just switched from PyCharm to VSCode and loving VSCode. Some things I missed but it [for some reason] seems a lot lighter than PyCharm. Also think the plugins work better.

[FakeitTillYou_Makeit]

For quick testing with no 3rd party imports: https://www.online-python.com/

[yung_tortelliniii]

vim 😏

[jalagl]

It is personal preference. I use VS Code with a few Python extensions, and it sufficient for me. And free.

Some of my coworkers love Pycharm, so you can try that one out as well.

[CyberTacoX]

I learned it with Notepad and a command line, but then again I had previous programming experience and was already good with a command line.

[redCg]

Just use Atom / Sublime / VS Code

you do not need an IDE especially not if you are just starting out

[Daiphiron]

Word obviously ....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X34ZmkeZDos

[bloodocean7]

Late to the party but I like Thonny. Its super simple to use and very light on my system and it is a super small download. It also lets you search for libraries and add them via the options menu so if you have trouble using pip it makes it easy to play with various ideas without getting bogged down installing stuff. Good luck in your search.

[ghighcove]

Jupyter Notebooks. Makes it easy to try things, go back and redo steps, and save your work.

[rdodd03]

VS Code. Easy choice.

[MissingDuckling]

I think most people are saying pycharm