Released in 1991 by creator Guido van Rossum,Pythonwas developed with an emphasis on code readability with a syntax that allows developers to create more with fewer lines of code. Therefore, if you are new to programming, it is often recommended to start with Python. And if you want to increase your productivity while coding in Python, you need the best Python IDE or editor.
The Python language has evolved tremendously over the years thanks to the contributions of Python developers and programmers from around the world. It is currently one of the most widely used programming languages with a huge range.packages, libraries and frameworks.
Python is a versatile language that can be used in a variety of applications, such as Blender (3D modeling software), machine learning/artificial intelligence, and web development, to name a few. Since Python is often used for scripting, lightweight text editors like notepad++ or even simple notepad can be useful Python tools.
Python interpreters are available on most operating systems, including Linux, macOS, and Windows. If you plan to work on larger projects, we recommend a dedicated code editor orIntegrated development environment(I AM GOING). Python IDEs and Python code editors offer their own distinct features and user interfaces.
In this article, we'll cover some of the most popular Python IDEs and editors, considering their pros, cons, and use cases. Many of them also offer free tiers, so if you're just starting out, you'll be able to choose the best free IDEs for Python.
Recommended Python IDEs and Editors |
Pycharm: Extremely popular, powerful and feature-rich Python IDE.learn more |
kod visual studio: A lightweight and extensible code editor.learn more |
jupyter notebook: Data Science IDE, easily run simulations and share data.learn more |
Want to master Python?Python by Dr. JohnsI'm starting from the beginning. The course covers how to install your first IDE and quickly jumps into the projects. Best of all, it is taught by our very own expert, Dr. Jones. We also encourage you to read our article titledbest python lessonsto help you become a Python expert.
Before we go any further, let's first see what IDEs and code editors are, and then we'll discuss the requirements of these Python tools to create a good development environment.
What are IDEs and code editors?
Whether you're a college freshman taking your first computer science class or a staff software engineer, you need an IDE or code editor to edit, read, and debug your code efficiently.
I recommend the Python course
An integrated development environment (IDE) is an application that helps developers develop software efficiently. It increases developer productivity by combining common development tools such as software editing, building, testing, debugging, and packaging into an easy-to-use graphical user interface (GUI). Other popular features include code refactoring, code search, code auto-completion, and continuous integration/continuous development (CI/CD).
An IDE may also provide many more features that generally differ from one IDE to another.
Although code editors are similar to text editors, they are designed to make code development easier and faster with powerful built-in features and capabilities. Code editors can sometimes be confused with IDEs, but the main difference between them is that IDEs provide more powerful tools to simplify the coding process.
Top 10 Python IDEs and Python Code Editors
To help you choose the best Python IDE or code editor, we've done extensive research to come up with a list of the ten best Python IDEs and Python code editors based on popularity, functionality, number of users, and reviews user. We've also made sure that this list includes IDEs and editors that appeal to both beginners and professional developers.
To make sure each of the IDEs and editors is up to the task, we've taken the time to put them through their paces. This involved installing each on Windows, macOS and Linux platforms and then running a variety of Python scripts, from small single files to multi-folder packages. This has helped us confirm that each of the options on this list does what it's designed to do, whether it's helping novice developers or enabling professionals to improve their day-to-day coding experience.
1. PyCharm
Platform: Linux/mac OS/Windows
Official webpage:https://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/
type: IDE
Produced byjet Brains,PyCharmis one of the most popular Python IDEs. That's why we chose it as the default for the course, Python with Dr. Johns. With productivity tools like fast and safe code refactoring, PyCharm really stands out from the competition.
PyCharm is available in three editions: an Apache-licensed community edition, an educational (edu) edition, and a proprietary professional edition. The first two versions are open source and free, but you will have to pay for the Professional version.
Our research confirms that the free community edition provides incredible value for beginners, offering a variety of features including syntax highlighting, auto-completion, and live code review. The paid version offers advanced features such as full database management, along with a range of platform-specific tools and website builders.
Advantages:
- active community support
- Lots of useful plugins and shortcuts to increase your productivity
- Run, edit, and debug Python code without external requirements
disadvantages:
- The professional version is quite expensive.
- The free tier offers less functionality than the paid versions
- The community version does not allow the use of other programming languages
2. Pidew
Platform: GNU/Linux/macOS/Windows/Solaris
Official webpage:https://www.eclipse.org/;http://pydev.org/
type: IDE
Eclipse is a free IDE historically designed for Java. However, thanks to the plugin or extension system, you can use it with other languages, including Python.
You will need the Pydev plugin to use Eclipse as a Python IDE, which will then allow you to develop in Python, Jython or IronPython. Pydev also uses advanced inference techniques to provide features such as auto-completion and code analysis.
As one of the best IDEs for Python, Eclipse also offers the following features: Debugger, Django, Interactive Console, Basic Syntax Highlighting, Code Coverage and more.
Advantages:
- Easy to learn and feature rich
- It has a large and active community.
disadvantages:
- The user interface is no less modern
- Plugins can be unstable
3. REAL
Platform: Linux/mac OS/Windows
Official webpage:https://docs.python.org/3/library/idle.html
type: IDE
IDLE, or Integrated Development and Learning Environment, is a free IDE included with every Python installation. It allows you to edit, run, and debug Python code in a simple Python shell and code editor environment, making it ideal for beginners.
As a cross-platform IDE, it is available on Windows, Linux and macOS. IDLE consists of a multi-window text editor with syntax highlighting and a built-in debugger that provides stepping, fixed breakpoints, and call stack visibility.
Advantages:
- suitable for beginners
- It offers features like syntax highlighting, search, autocomplete and smart indentation.
- Built-in debugger with step functions and breakpoints
disadvantages:
- It may be too simple for some.
- Not suitable for large projects.
- It lacks the advanced features offered by other IDEs
4. Kod Visual Studio (kod VS)
Platform: Linux/mac OS/Windows
Official webpage:https://code.visualstudio.com
type: code editor
Produced bymicrosoftFor Windows, Linux, and macOS, VS Code is a free, extensible code editor (not to be confused with Visual Studio). VS Code is a small but flexible MIT licensed open source code editor. It supports many programming languages, including Python, once the extension is installed. VS Code is relatively lightweight and has many useful features such as syntax highlighting, code auto-completion, Git integration, and advanced code debugging. If you're looking for a lightweight, fast, and customizable Python code editor, this is a great choice.
One of VS Code's main strengths is its design that makes heavy use of an extension-based architecture. Because it is lightweight, it can easily be expanded by adding new components as needed.
advantages:
- Advanced customization with over 30,000 extensions in circulation
- Powerful code management engine
- You can import keyboard shortcuts from Python editors like Sublime Text or Atom
disadvantages:
- Initial customization can be overwhelming/difficult due to the number of extensions available
- Extensions can sometimes be unreliable
5. High Text
Platform: Linux/mac OS/Windows
Official webpage:http://www.sublimetext.com/
type: code editor
Originally designed as an extension of Vim, Sublime Text is a general-purpose text editor written in C++ and Python code. As of the release of version 2.0, it supports 44 major programming languages, including Python. Sublime Text requires a paid license, but you can try the code editor for free (and without a time limit!).
After installing Sublime Text, thanks to various plugins and packages, you get a high-quality and powerful tool that is one of the best python editors to help you in your development. It also includes most of the features you'd expect from a basic Python IDE, including configurable syntax highlighting.
Advantages:
- Fast, with very few errors (big advantage)
- It offers a variety of customizations through plugins.
- Support multiple languages
disadvantages:
- permission is required
- Plugins can be confusing/difficult to install
- steep learning curve
6. Jupyter Notebook
Platform: Linux/mac OS/Windows
Official webpage:https://jupyter.org/
type: IDE
Jupyter Notebook is a free and open source IDE used to create Jupyter documents. Uniquely, it is a web-based IDE that allows you to easily share your work.
Jupyter Notebook is very popular among data scientists because it is great for machine learning, simulation, data visualization, data analysis, as well as sharing and presenting results. Jupyter is ready to go out of the box and requires little to no configuration. This makes it a great tool for writing Python scripts quickly.
advantages:
- Easy to use and learn
- It supports more than 40 different languages
- Easily share your work
Disadvantages:
- Mainly suitable for development in the field of data and scientific computing.
- It lacks the advanced features offered by other IDEs
- Coding in separate cells can be difficult to master as the number of cells increases
7. Spy
Platform: Linux/mac OS/Windows
Official webpage:https://github.com/spyder-ide/spyder
type: IDE
The Python research community has been maintaining Spyder since 2012. With core features like syntax highlighting and auto-completion, Spyder also incorporates some scientific.librariessuch as matplotlib,pynumber, IPython and Scipy. It's free, cross-platform, open source and very easy to install with a Python package manager like Pip.
Spyder offers a unique combination of advanced analysis, debugging, processing, interactive execution, analysis, and visualization capabilities comparable to scientific software packages. Its main components are an interactive console, a documentation viewer, a variable explorer, and development tools. These features make Spyder one of the best IDEs for Python code in scientific development.
Advantages:
- Community
- A rich set of development tools.
- Extensive documentation
disadvantages:
- Execution dependencies
- optional dependencies
- steep learning curve
8. Alas
Platform: Linux/mac OS/Windows
Official webpage:https://wingware.com/
type: IDE
Wing is a Python IDE specifically designed to provide a more productive Python development environment. It offers a wide variety of features such as code feedback, syntax highlighting, code auto-completion, smart refactoring, and more.
Wing has three pricing tiers: Wing Pro (paid), Wing Personal (free), and Wing 101 (free). As a stripped-down version of Wing Personal, Wing 101 was originally designed for teaching basic computer science courses, making it one of the best Python IDEs for beginners. Unsurprisingly, Wing Pro (paid version) is the option with the most features available.
Advantages:
- Adjustable and expandable
- Powerful debugger
- Rich feature
disadvantages:
- Minimal support for non-Python-based languages
- Wing Pro can be expensive and must be renewed every year.
- The user interface is a bit outdated.
9. GNU/Emacs
Platform: Linux/mac OS/Windows
Official webpage:https://www.gnu.org
type: Text editor
GNU Emacs is a feature-rich text editor that is highly customizable with various extensions and is available as a free download on all platforms.
For python programming you can useResurrectextension This is a feature-rich Emacs extension for working with Python projects. Among its many features, we should mention syntax highlighting that distinguishes document elements such as keywords and comments, and automatic indentation that ensures consistent formatting throughout the file.
AdvantageSMALL:
- Free and fully customizable
- Fully navigable with keyboard bindings (but not required)
- 24-bit color coding support for terminals that support it
Disadvantages:
- steep learning curve
- Documentation may be out of date
10. Tony'ego
Platform: Linux/mac OS/Windows
Official webpage:https://thonny.org
type: IDE
Thonny bills itself as a Python IDE for beginners. Designed to make life easier for new Python developers, Thonny is a simple and lightweight IDE with great features that is free. This makes it one of the best IDEs for beginner Python users who want to start programming in a simple environment, but less so for experienced Python developers who want more from their next Python IDE.
With a user interface that's insulated from features that can distract beginners, Thonny is a well-thought-out training IDE for beginners who want to develop quickly, easily, and easily in Python.
Advantages:
- A learning oriented IDE for beginners
- Basic and functional user interface
- Easy to get started (includes built-in Python)
disadvantages:
- Not for an experienced developer
- It lacks the advanced features offered by other IDEs
How to choose the best Python IDEs for 2023?
For beginners, there are many Python IDEs that allow you to build a comfort level with the environment as you gradually become familiar with each feature.
To make installation easier, IDLE is a good choice for beginners as it comes with Python on your system. If you want to explore other options, the Thonny and the Wing 101 are great options as they are both designed with beginners in mind.
But if you want to code in a more professional environment, you might want to consider PyCharm as your next IDE, or if you prefer portability, VS Code is a solid choice as one of the best code editors for Python.
Experienced and professional developers have many options. If you're looking for an IDE that offers high performance for larger projects, Pycharm or PyDev (Eclipse) are popular choices. Likewise, VS Code is often chosen when a code editor is preferred.
If you're part of the ever-expanding data science community, Jupyter should be at the top of your list. Also, Spyder is one of the best Python IDEs for scientific computing, so it could be a good choice if your development aligns with your strengths.
On the other hand, you might be a bit more "old school" and prefer the look and feel of GNU/Emacs or Sublime, both of which are very popular with Linux developers.
A free IDE for Python | Python IDE for Mac | Python IDE for Windows |
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Pythonit is one of the most well-known languages, and perhaps even the most popular. If you are looking for the best Python IDE to increase your productivity, there are many useful, easy to use and powerful Python IDEs to choose from, both paid and free. Likewise, if you prefer a lightweight code editor, there are plenty to choose from in both the free and paid tiers.
If you are a python beginner thenPython by Dr. JohnsThe course is a great place to start your Python programming adventure from beginner to expert.
Frequent questions
1. What is the best IDE for Python?
The best Python IDE is the one that maximizes your development experience and productivity. If you're a beginner, you'll be able to start with IDLE, Thonny, or Wing 101. If you're an experienced developer, you can choose any of the IDEs we've covered, but the most popular ones are Pycharm. for the IDE and VS Code for the code editor.
2. Which Python IDE is best for beginners?
Several Python IDEs are designed with beginners in mind. They allow you to build a level of comfort in the environment as you become more familiar with each feature. IDLE is a good choice as it is installed with Python. Thonny and Wing 101 are also great options, offering simple user interfaces designed for novice developers. Pycharm's free tier is also one of the best Python frameworks for beginners.
3. What is the official Python IDE?
There is no official IDE for Python per se. IDLE comes with Python, so it can be considered an official IDE, but the Python development community is open and collaborative, which means there is extensive user support and feedback for each of the Python IDEs we cover.
4. Which Python IDE should I use for machine learning?
Jupyter is a popular choice for machine learning developers because it offers ease of use when running simulations and sharing the results with others. Similarly, Spyder is popular in the data science community for its extensive computer science capabilities and library integration. However, any of the IDEs we covered can be used for machine learning if you have the necessary libraries installed.
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