Based on a Visual Studio background, what do you recommend using to run my VERY FIRST Python project?
I am locked into using C # and I don't like it. I have to start branching out to better myself as a professional and as a person, so I decided to start doing things in due time with Python.
The problem is that in C # I have only programmed . Which IDE should I use to create programs using Python?
My goal is to make some sort of encyclopedic program for the game I'm playing right now, displaying hero information, names, stats, image, etc. All this information I'm going to parse from an XML file.
My plan is for this application to work on Windows, Linux and Mac (I got the impression that any code written in Python works 100% cross-platform?)
Thanks so much for your great help to the SO brothers.: P
Edit:
I think I should clarify that I am looking for an IDE that supports a drag-and-drop GUI. I'm used to using VS and I'm not really sure how you can do this in any other way.
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You don't really need an IDE for Python; just a good text editor. You might like the IDE Editra . It's actually written in Python itself, so you can use it on Linux, Mac, and Windows! I've been using Editra as my Python IDE for 6-10 months. It gives you everything you need and nothing else: syntax highlighting, code folding, auto indentation, and additional plugins to integrate the Python shell right into the edit window. You will definitely want auto indentation when you code in Python.
In terms of visual GUI design, I suggest you check out Glade . This makes it easy to create graphical interfaces using the GTK + toolkit. (GTK + GUIs work on Linux, Mac, and Windows!) It takes a little more effort to integrate them into your Python programs than the Microsoft Visual languages, but that's not too bad once you know it. The best part about using GTK + and Glade is that you design your interface with containers, shim properties and the like. They can be dragged anywhere on the grid like in Visual Studio, but who wants to do that? Once you know your way around containers and add-ons, you will be very happy with them. Much easier to do everything, and have similar widgets grouped to hide / disable, etc.
Good luck with your Python journey! :)
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How about IronPython
Like VS 2010, it will be the first class of .Net language
Or currently in VS2008 IronPythonStudio shell
Not that I use any of these
In hindsight this might not make a very good cross-platform solution, but it will allow you to leverage the VS experience.
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I think Wing IDE deserves a mention as well. I've been a VIM user for years, but now I'm thinking about switching to Wing. It costs money, but after evaluating for about a week (you can do a 30 day estimate), I feel it is worth it.
I have no experience with other IDEs (Komodo, Eclipse). Thus, they may even be better than a wing. It would be interesting if someone with experience with all of them could describe some of their differences, strengths and weaknesses.
Speaking of which, I recommend learning Python using a basic approach - using a text editor like Notepad ++, VIM, or emacs to learn the basics. Learn to use the standard Python debugger, pdb , from the command line. And use an interactive shell when learning (use IPython for interactive).
Switch to an IDE while mastering the basics.
The Python distribution also has a very simple IDE: IDLE .
There are many great tutorials and books in Python. Start with standard documentation . Many people enjoy Diving into Python . I also recommend Python in a nutshell .
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A good IDE for python is Komodo or Eclipse with PyDev.
But even Notepad ++ or any other text editor will be enough to get you started, since you don't need to compile your code, just use a good editor.
The advantage of the aforementioned IDEs is that you can use them to manage a large scale project and debug your code.
As far as the cross platform issue is concerned, if you don't use specific os libs (like win32api) you might be safe on the platform.
This seems like a very big project for the first time. Will it be a website or a desktop? As this will greatly change your design and choice of python libraries.
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Python is so simple that IDEs are not as necessary as C # and VB.
The "complaint" is that the Python IDE is not very much. This should not be seen as a complaint - it is a virtue of the language.
We use Komodo Edit for professional work. He does a lot of what we need.
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I would vote for Eclipse + pydev (especially that pydev extensions were released recently as open source). You can also use VIM or emacs for python development.
Also, I would recomment the big Dive Into Python
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Eclipse + Pydev is currently the standard IDE for Python. It is cross-platform, and because it is a versatile IDE, it supports just about any other programming activity you might want to consider.
Eclipse is not bad for C ++ and very mature for Java developers. It's pretty amazing when you realize that all this great stuff is worthless.
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I suspect you are unlikely to be able to find an IDE with an embedded GUI designer I guess. But most GUI tools have drag and drop designers that you can use to create dialog boxes and windows and then use with Python even if it is not integrated with the GUI. You will soon find out.
Here is a question requiring GUI designers for Python: Delphi-GUI designer for Python
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SciTE is a good alternative to Notepad ++ in my opinion . It's very lightweight but has very good support for language highlighting and execution in a script editor. It also has one of my favorite editing gestures from Visual Studio: Ctrl-F3, selects a word on the edit cursor, makes it text, and searches for the next occurrence.
PyScripter is the next step up the IDE I suggest by providing a nice class browser window, just like VS.
For interactive debugging, I use winpdb (which, despite the name, is not a Windows-only utility).
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In terms of editing graphical user interface, look at wxwidgets and, in particular, XRCed .
XRCed is an application for creating interfaces (not really drag and drop, but closure) that are then saved as XML files. Using wxPython you can load the XML file and rebuild the interface for you.
You just need to get links to each of your UI elements (by name) and you can continue.
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