What IDE to use for Python?

husayt picture husayt · Sep 17, 2008 · Viewed 1.7M times · Source

What IDEs ("GUIs/editors") do others use for Python coding?

Answer

Rafał Rawicki picture Rafał Rawicki · Sep 17, 2008

Results

Spreadsheet version

spreadsheet screenshot

Alternatively, in plain text: (also available as a a screenshot)

                         Bracket Matching -.  .- Line Numbering
                          Smart Indent -.  |  |  .- UML Editing / Viewing
         Source Control Integration -.  |  |  |  |  .- Code Folding
                    Error Markup -.  |  |  |  |  |  |  .- Code Templates
  Integrated Python Debugging -.  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  .- Unit Testing
    Multi-Language Support -.  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  .- GUI Designer (Qt, Eric, etc)
   Auto Code Completion -.  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  .- Integrated DB Support
     Commercial/Free -.  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  .- Refactoring
   Cross Platform -.  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |     
                  +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
Atom              |Y |F |Y |Y*|Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |  |Y |Y |  |  |  |  |*many plugins
Editra            |Y |F |Y |Y |  |  |Y |Y |Y |Y |  |Y |  |  |  |  |  |
Emacs             |Y |F |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |  |  |  |
Eric Ide          |Y |F |Y |  |Y |Y |  |Y |  |Y |  |Y |  |Y |  |  |  |
Geany             |Y |F |Y*|Y |  |  |  |Y |Y |Y |  |Y |  |  |  |  |  |*very limited
Gedit             |Y |F |Y¹|Y |  |  |  |Y |Y |Y |  |  |Y²|  |  |  |  |¹with plugin; ²sort of
Idle              |Y |F |Y |  |Y |  |  |Y |Y |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
IntelliJ          |Y |CF|Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |
JEdit             |Y |F |  |Y |  |  |  |  |Y |Y |  |Y |  |  |  |  |  |
KDevelop          |Y |F |Y*|Y |  |  |Y |Y |Y |Y |  |Y |  |  |  |  |  |*no type inference
Komodo            |Y |CF|Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |  |Y |Y |Y |  |Y |  |
NetBeans*         |Y |F |Y |Y |Y |  |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |  |  |Y |*pre-v7.0
Notepad++         |W |F |Y |Y |  |Y*|Y*|Y*|Y |Y |  |Y |Y*|  |  |  |  |*with plugin
Pfaide            |W |C |Y |Y |  |  |  |Y |Y |Y |  |Y |Y |  |  |  |  |
PIDA              |LW|F |Y |Y |  |  |  |Y |Y |Y |  |Y |  |  |  |  |  |VIM based
PTVS              |W |F |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |  |Y |  |  |Y*|  |Y |*WPF bsed
PyCharm           |Y |CF|Y |Y*|Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |*JavaScript
PyDev (Eclipse)   |Y |F |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |  |  |  |
PyScripter        |W |F |Y |  |Y |Y |  |Y |Y |Y |  |Y |Y |Y |  |  |  |
PythonWin         |W |F |Y |  |Y |  |  |Y |Y |  |  |Y |  |  |  |  |  |
SciTE             |Y |F¹|  |Y |  |Y |  |Y |Y |Y |  |Y |Y |  |  |  |  |¹Mac version is
ScriptDev         |W |C |Y |Y |Y |Y |  |Y |Y |Y |  |Y |Y |  |  |  |  |    commercial
Spyder            |Y |F |Y |  |Y |Y |  |Y |Y |Y |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Sublime Text      |Y |CF|Y |Y |  |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |  |Y |Y |Y*|  |  |  |extensible w/Python,
TextMate          |M |F |  |Y |  |  |Y |Y |Y |Y |  |Y |Y |  |  |  |  |    *PythonTestRunner
UliPad            |Y |F |Y |Y |Y |  |  |Y |Y |  |  |  |Y |Y |  |  |  |
Vim               |Y |F |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |  |Y |Y |Y |  |  |  |
Visual Studio     |W |CF|Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |? |Y |? |? |Y |? |Y |
Visual Studio Code|Y |F |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |? |Y |? |? |? |? |Y |uses plugins
WingIde           |Y |C |Y |Y*|Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |Y |  |Y |Y |Y |  |  |  |*support for C
Zeus              |W |C |  |  |  |  |Y |Y |Y |Y |  |Y |Y |  |  |  |  |
                  +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
   Cross Platform -'  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |     
     Commercial/Free -'  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  '- Refactoring
   Auto Code Completion -'  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  '- Integrated DB Support
    Multi-Language Support -'  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  '- GUI Designer (Qt, Eric, etc)
  Integrated Python Debugging -'  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  '- Unit Testing
                    Error Markup -'  |  |  |  |  |  |  '- Code Templates
         Source Control Integration -'  |  |  |  |  '- Code Folding
                          Smart Indent -'  |  |  '- UML Editing / Viewing
                         Bracket Matching -'  '- Line Numbering

Acronyms used:

 L  - Linux
 W  - Windows
 M  - Mac
 C  - Commercial
 F  - Free
 CF - Commercial with Free limited edition
 ?  - To be confirmed

I don't mention basics like syntax highlighting as I expect these by default.


This is a just dry list reflecting your feedback and comments, I am not advocating any of these tools. I will keep updating this list as you keep posting your answers.

PS. Can you help me to add features of the above editors to the list (like auto-complete, debugging, etc.)?

We have a comprehensive wiki page for this question https://wiki.python.org/moin/IntegratedDevelopmentEnvironments

Submit edits to the spreadsheet