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Ask HN: Python Development Environment

7 points by bertm ↗ HN
I have been programming in python for a few months now in a simple text based interpretor. I want to move to a more robust development environment. The first one that came up in my search is Eclipse.

I am looking for something with module and library management, code auto correction, debugging tools,; moving toward continuous deployment and automated build testing. Any recommendations/reviews from the HN network?

7 comments

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jacquesm
intellij or eclipse.

Intellij has a free trial for 30 days, that way you can see if going for 'closed source' vs open source is worth it.

gtani
I've had the full komodo IDE environment for a few years, for a while somebody else paid the $$ for the license. It's nice if you do the full suite of languages targeted: ruby, python, JS, CSS.

http://www.activestate.com/komodo/

The other non-cheap IDE specifically targeting python is wingware, I've heard good things but never used

http://www.wingware.com/

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I also played with the vim plugins and textmate bundles for ruby and python (at least a year ago) and thought they werre well done, quite usable. I'm one of those people who thinks you should learn vi/vim cause it'll be installed on platforms / servers where you don't have root access.

jaddison
Komodo has been more than acceptable for me for a couple of years now... but I have to admit it doesn't feel quite complete for me. I can't pinpoint what's missing though.

I recently tried Netbeans for some PHP development, and I think it's ok - but yes, it really slows down when it's "scanning projects...". (I've configured to sync to server on save) - how annoying.

Recently had to learn more vim and I don't mind using it on the server (console environment), but prefer an actual UI.

weaksauce
I would say eclipse with pydev. I tried out komodo for a while but it seemed a bit on the slow side. Same story with netbeans. I also recently tried out wingIDE but was not too impressed. Most of my coding in python is done in either textmate for oneoffs, vim on a server for quick fixes or eclipse/pydev for more in depth stuff.

Pydev has the code completion and debugging facilities that you are looking for and I would imagine that you could find a suitable plugin to do the continuous deployment and automated build testing as eclipse has a strong plugin ecosystem.

enduser
Unix. Use multiple refined tools that operate well together.

Editing: vim or emacs. if vim: nerdtree, vim-snipmate, vim-omnicomplete, vim's python integration.

Deployment: rsync (or your DVCS). I have a simple script that 'touch'es my Django .wsgi files before rsyncing to the deployment server.

ipython is great.

macco
If you want to go the Eclipse-Road Aptana is worth a look.

I personally would recommend Emacs + bpython/ipython. A deadly combination.

vaidhy
I have been using Stan's Python Editor (SPE) for quite some time and am very happy with it. Easy to install on my Ubuntu box, no big application+kitchen sink package, no magic customization files and free to boot.