Top 10 Python IDEs and Code Editors
Over the years, Python language has evolved enormously with the contribution of developers. Python is one of the most popular programming languages. It was designed primarily for server-side web development, software development, evaluation, scripting and artificial intelligence. For this feature Python encloses certain code editors and IDEs that are used for software development say, Python itself. If you are new to programming, learning Python is highly recommended as it is fast, efficient and easy to learn. Python interpreters are available on various operating systems such as Windows, Linux, Mac OS. This article provides a look into code editors and IDEs along with their features, pros and cons and talks about which are the best suited for writing Python codes. But first let us see what are code editors and IDEs.
A code editor is built for editing and modifying source code. A standalone text editor is used for writing and editing computer programs. Excellent ones can execute code as well as control a debugger as well as interact with source control systems. Compared to an IDE, a good dedicated code editor is usually smaller and quicker, but is less functional. Typically they are optimized for programming languages. One major feature of a text editor is that they are designed to modify various files and work with whatever language or framework you choose.
IDE (Integrated Development Environment) understands the code significantly better than a text editor. It is a program exclusively built for software development. It is designed with a set of tools that all work together:
These tools integrate: An editor designed to frame codes with text formatting, auto-completionetc., build, execution, debugging tools, file management and source and version control. It reduces manual efforts and combines all the equipment in a typical framework. IDE comes with heavy files. Hence, the downloads and installation is quite tedious. IDE requires expertise along with a lot of patience.
An IDE is distinctive from code editors in the following ways:
Although IDEs have far better features than a Text editor one major significance of Text editor is that it allows modifying all types of files rather than specifying any definite language or types.
For a good software development, we need code editors and IDEs which help the developer to automate the process of editing, compiling, testing, debugging and much more. Some of the features of these editors are listed below:
For a good software development one seeks a better coding environment. Although features vary from app to app, a definite set of features is required for one. There are many other things involved such as source code control, extension tools, language support etc. Listed below are the core features which make a good coding environment :
There are various Python IDEs and text editors. Some of the IDEs and text editors along with their features and pros and cons are mentioned below:
Key Features: It is an open source IDE entirely written in Python. It is mainly supported by WINDOWS, LINUX, MAC OS etc.. IDLE is a decent IDE for learning because it is lightweight and quite simple to use. IDLE is installed by default as soon as installation of Python is complete. This makes it easier to get started in Python. IDLE features include the Python shell window(interactive interpreter), auto-completion, syntax highlighting, smart indentation, and a basic integrated debugger. It is however not suitable for the completion of larger projects and best suitable for educational purposes only.
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Key Features: It is a source code editor, supported on all platforms. It is a very popular cross-platform and a better text editor. It possesses a built-in support for Python for code editing and packages to extend the syntax and editing features. All Sublime Text packages are written in Python and also a Python API. Installation of the packages often requires you to execute scripts directly in Sublime Text. it is designed to support huge programming and markup languages. Additional functions can be applied by the user with the help of plugins.
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Key Features: It is an open source code editor developed by Github. It is supported on all platforms. It has features similar to that of Python. It has a framework based on atom shells which help to achieve cross platform functionality. With a sleek interface, file system browser, and marketplace for extensions, it offers a framework for creating desktop applications using JavaScript, HTML, CSS . Extensions can be installed when Atom is running.It enables support for third party packages. Its major feature is that although it is a code editor,it can also be used as an IDE. It is also used for educational purposes. Atom is being improvised day by day, striving to make the user experience rewarding and not remain confined to beginners use only.
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Key Features: Categorized as a stable open source code editor, VI and VIM are modal editors. As it is supported on almost every platform such as: Windows, LINUX, MAC OS, IOS, Android, UNIX, AmigaOS, MorphOS etc. it is highly configurable. Because of its modal mode of operation, it differs from most other text editors. It possesses three basic modes: insert mode, normal or command mode and command line mode. It is easily customized by the addition of extensions and configuration which makes it easily adaptable for Python development.
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Key Features: It is also categorized as an open source IDE mainly written with JAVA.Since it is an eclipse plugin, the Java IDE is transformed into Python IDE. Its integration with Django gives a Python framework. It also has keyword auto-completion, good debugging tool, syntax highlighting and indentation.
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Key Features: It is categorized as an IDE, is a full-featured IDE developed by Microsoft. It is compatible with Windows and Mac OS only and comes with free as well as paid versions. It has its own marketplace for extensions. PTVS(Python Tools for Visual Studio) offers various features as in coding for Python development, IntelliSense, debugging, refactoring etc.
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Key Features: VS code is a code editor and is way more different from VS. It is a free open source code editor developed by Microsoft can be run on platforms such as Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. It has a full-featured editor that is highly configurable with Python compatibility for software development. Python tools can be added to enable coding in Python.VS code is integrated with Git which promotes it to perform operations like push, commit directly from the editor itself. It also has electron framework for Node JS applications running on the Blink browser engine. It is enclosed with smart code completion with function definition, imported modules and variable types. Apart from these, VS code also comes with syntax highlighting, a debugging console and proprietary IntelliSense code auto completion. After installing Python, VS code recognizes Python files and libraries immediately.
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Key Features: Wing is also one of the powerful IDEs today and comes with a lot of good features. It is an open source IDE used commercially. It also is constituted with a strong framework and has a strong debugger and smart editor for Python development making it fast, accurate and fun to perform. It comes with a 30 day trial version. It supports text driven development with unit test, PyTest and Django testing framework.
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Key Features: It is also an open source IDE with a server-client structure, used to create and edit the codes of a Python. Once it is saved, you can share live code equations, visualizations and text. It has anaconda distribution i.e., libraries are preinstalled so downloading the anaconda itself does the task. It supports Python and R language which are installed by default at installation. This IDE is again used for data science learning. Quite easy to use, it is not just used as an editor but also as an educational tool or presentation. It supports numerical simulation, machine learning visualization and statistical modelling.
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Key Features: It is the simplest web IDE used for Python. It gives a free GPU access. Instead of downloading heavy files and tedious launch time, one can directly update the files from Colab to the drive. All you need to do is log in to your google account and open Colab. There is no need for extra setup. Unlike other IDEs no files are required to download. Google provides free computation resources with Colaboratory. It is designed for creating machine learning models. For compilation and execution, all you need to do is to update Python package and get started.
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Key Features: Developed by Jet Brains and one of the widely used full-featured Python IDE, this is a cross-platform IDE for Python programming and is well-integrated with Python console and IPython Notebook. It is supported by Windows, Linux, Mac OS and other platforms as well. It has massive productivity and saves ample amount of time. It comes with smart code navigation, code editor, good debugging tool, quick refactoring etc. and supports Python web development frameworks such as Angular JS, JavaScript, CSS, HTML and live editing functions. The paid version offers advanced features such as full database management and a multitude Framework than the community version such as Django, Flask, Google App, Engine, Pyramid and web2py.
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Key Features: It is an open source IDE supported on all platforms. Ranked as one of the best Python compilers, it supports syntax highlighting, auto completion of codes just like Pycharm. It offers an advanced level of editing, debugging, quick diagnose, troubleshoot and many data exploration features. To get started with Spyder, one needs to install anaconda distribution which is basically used in data science and machine learning. Just like Pycharm it has IntelliSense auto-completion of code. Spyder is built on a structured and powerful framework which makes it one of the best IDE used so far. It is most commonly used for scientific development.
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Key Features: Thonny is another IDE best suited for beginners for Python development and provides a good virtual environment. It is supported on all platforms. It gives a simple debugger with F5, F6 and F7 keys for debugging. Also, Thonny supports highlighting errors, good representation of function calls, auto code completion and smart indentation. It even allows the developers to configure their code and shell commands. by default, in Thonny Python is pre-installed as it downloads with its own version of Python.
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Requirements vary from programmer to programmer. It is one’s own choice to pick the right tool that is best suited for the task at hand. Beginners need to use a simple tool with few customizations whereas experts require tools with advanced features to bring new updates. Few suggestions are listed below:-
Generally, large scale enterprises prefer the paid versions of IDEs like PyCharm, Atom, Sublime Text etc. in order to get extensive service support from the company. Also, they provide easy finance options and manpower. On the other hand, middle and small scale enterprises tend to look for open source tools which provides them with excellent features. Some of such IDEs are Spyder, Pydev, IDLE and Visual Studio.
Today, Python stands out as one of the most popular programming languages worldwide. IDE being a program dedicated to software development has made it easier for developers to build, execute, and debug their codes. Code editors can only be used for editing codes whereas an IDE is a feature rich editor which has inbuilt text editor, compiler, debugging tool and libraries. Different IDEs and code editors are detailed in this article along with their merits and demerits. Some are suitable for beginners because of their lightweight nature and simplicity like IDLE, Thonny whereas experts require advance featured ones for building software.
For learning purposes say data science, machine learning Jupyter and Google Colaboratory are strongly recommended. Again there are large scale enterprises who prefer PyCharm, Atom, Sublime Text for software development. On the other hand, small scale enterprises prefer Spyder, Pydev, IDLE and Visual Studio. Hence,the type of IDE or code editor that should be used completely depends upon the requirement of the programmer . To gain more knowledge about Python tips and tricks, check our Python tutorial and get a good hold over coding in Python by joining the Python certification course.
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