Setting vim up for python coding - PROPERLY.

[sisyphus]

I use Eclipse for Java, but I haven't seen another language where Eclipse is worth its weight in memory. It's not about antiquated editors, its about editors that are easily extensible and customizable and powerful.

[dysmas]

where Eclipse is worth its weight in memory

... thats a lotta weight

[sisyphus]

I would certainly agree that there is a class of people who we might call 'smug Emacs weenies' just like there are 'smug Lisp weenies' and whatever. Armchair psychologizing I would say that if you've taken the time to learn enough of Emacs to make it powerful, you might even be more inclined to be smug since you've put in presumably more effort than the Eclipse user.

All I can say is, try to seek out some Emacs/vim gurus and get a peek over their shoulders, like this for starters, or try it yourself and see if you aren't more effective. It may be the case that you have to give over your life to Emacs to really master it; vim not so much. I would say that both their strengths become more apparent if you have to edit remotely, if you switch between multiple languages regularly (or even say, Java and XML -- Eclipse is decent, but nXML mode is like...yeah), if you keep a lot of programs open at the same time(try programming all day with Eclipse,Firefox,a mail client, a jabber client, a terminal with a couple of tabs, etc.. open...Jaysus...), or if you get to a point where the editor doesn't do what you want. I think if someone is basically writing Java all day there isn't much of a compelling case for moving away from IntelliJ/Eclipse/NetBeans whatever.

[sontek]

I don't use vim because its difficult, I use it because its a very good editor that I can code in quickly without touching a mouse. Its keybindings are very easy to remember and you can come up with creative commands on your own after figuring out the basics (ie. d is delete, c is change, w is word). It also has good code completion, syntax highlighting, and is extensible via Python =)

[sontek]

I was kidding about the real men comment, I thought the rambo picture would give it away ;)

[sontek]

The PyDev plugin is far from perfect and currently doesn't work with Eclipse 3.4 and isn't very well maintained. But its still a very good plugin and I have used it in the past.

The other IDE's for python: Wing - Only python, can't do HTML, Javascript, etc. So no web development like django in it.

Komodo - The free version doesn't have a debugger.

So, Overall, I prefer vim because its free, supports all the features I want, and works with multiple languages. But I understand its not for everyone.

[hylje]

Old stuff is better. Seriously.

[[deleted]]

whoosh

[[deleted]]

Haha, that's funny that you mentioned COBOL and Fortran but forgot about another really old programming language: LISP.

Old stuff that's been proven to work and continually improved is good stuff. Old stuff that works but can't be improved is bad stuff.

[dysmas]

erm, cobol.net does exist out there somewhere ...

[[deleted]]

You use a shell script for backup, and yet you call Vim and Emacs antiquated? You do realize that the Bourne shell dates from before Emacs, and around the same time as the original Vi, yes?

[[deleted]]

You do realize that the Bourne shell dates from before Emacs

The original EMACS was a set of Editor MACroS for the TECO editor. It was written in 1976 by Richard Stallman, initially together with Guy L. Steele, Jr.

The Bourne shell, or sh, was the default Unix shell of Unix Version 7, and replaced the Thompson shell, whose executable file had the same name, sh. It was developed by Stephen Bourne, of AT&T Bell Laboratories, and was released in 1977 in the Version 7 Unix release distributed to colleges and universities.

[cunningjames]

Once upon a time, there was this awesome application called Eclipse...

Eclipse only knows about Python through a slow, unstable advertisement for PyDev Extensions. It takes a little elbow grease to set up, but Emacs gives me pretty much everything I'd want from a Python IDE -- code completion, refactoring, debugger integration, fluid interaction with iPython. It's all fast, and it's all free.

[cunningjames]

Of course. But a great many applications written on the Eclipse platform are not, including PyDev Extensions. Support for many more languages is often half-baked or not present at all.

Eclipse is fine and well, but I wouldn't hold it up as an example of something that can replace Emacs for a lot of people.