

Python IDLE Reimagined - ingve
http://inventwithpython.com/blog/2014/11/20/idle-reimagined/

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drivingmenuts
I've always kind of wondered what IDLE is good for, seeing as how I've already
got a perfectly good command line to run python from.

~~~
recursive
For Windows, it's easier to start IDLE than it is to start python from a
command line, and the editor is better. It's still terrible, but at least it's
better.

~~~
Amezarak
> For Windows, it's easier to start IDLE than it is to start python from a
> command line, and the editor is better. It's still terrible, but at least
> it's better.

I am pretty sure the Windows Python installer adds Python to your path. On my
system, at any rate, starting Python on the command line consists of typing
"python" and pressing enter. How can it get any easier?

That said, starting IDLE _is_ easier, because hitting Winkey + py + enter
opens IDLE whereas there's the extra step of opening the terminal if I want to
use it on the command line.

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jarcane
Reminds me of DrRacket.

It's a good target for a learner's basic IDE.

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drewvolpe
I've taught a number of newbies Python (including a team of data scientists)
using IPython notebooks and it's convinced me that is the right way to do it.
I can setup a few notebooks with datasets, database connectivity, etc. and all
they have to do is point a browser at the URL and start hacking. There's
nothing to download, no environment variables to set, and no packages to
install / setup.

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Animats
From the article: _" I’ve started a wiki for an IDLE redesign project."_

What next, the Kickstarter? Usually, you actually _do_ something before
issuing the press release.

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tonyjstark
Exactly my thinking.

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sirsar
> _Instant Google-search for error messages._

Now there's an idea. Does anyone have recommendations for getting a
"professional developer grade" IDE to do that?

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desdiv
There's a official Visual Studio extension that does something similar[0].
It's surprisingly well received by the HN crowd[1], for a Microsoft product
that is.

[0]
[http://blogs.msdn.com/b/visualstudio/archive/2014/02/17/intr...](http://blogs.msdn.com/b/visualstudio/archive/2014/02/17/introducing-
bing-code-search-for-c.aspx)

[1]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7253711](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7253711)

~~~
smortaz
at the intersection of vs extensions + python + surprisingly-well-reviewed-on-
HN-for-a-microsoft-product, also check out
[http://pytools.codeplex.com](http://pytools.codeplex.com)

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cjbprime
The redesigned version looks a little like OLPC's Pippy (which uses GTK) --
maybe some of that code will be useful:

[http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Pippy](http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Pippy)

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ausjke
why not just use geany with python support, you can also enhance the python
plugin and it runs on windows/linux.

~~~
rspeer
Of course other text editors exist, but the author is looking for something
that fits the same niche as IDLE, which means it needs to run everywhere that
Python runs.

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kevinaloys
Devs are going to use the hell out of Search Google for Errors Option. That's
a game changer.

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TheLoneWolfling
I have a perfectly good window manager. Let me use it, please.

~~~
rspeer
You've probably also got a perfectly good text editor, so you're not the
target audience.

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TheLoneWolfling
If someone who pretty much exclusively uses IDLE for Python code editing isn't
the target audience, who is?

And a text editor for Python code isn't "perfectly good". There are things
that IDLE can do that text editors cannot. Name completion based on modules
loaded, that sort of thing.

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sqrt17
Kind of like spider? Or Emacs? Or PyDev?

~~~
truncate
More like DrRacket.

~~~
sqrt17
I know DrRacket from back when it was called DrScheme and you had to manually
set it from "extremely limited scheme-like language that won't allow you to do
anything" to "actual R5RS scheme".

I found DrScheme and its cousin DrJava nice for beginners, but I think within
the context of Python, IPython Notebook is just so much better because you can
wire in some pretty pictures and formatting. Then again, the separation
between "code that is meant to stay" and the REPL may be a useful concept that
you want to teach beginners.

~~~
jarcane
DrRacket defaults to the full Racket language. You have to switch over to use
the teaching languages or the r*rs implementations, but Racket is there from
the off, and switching languages is as easy as editing the #lang line at the
top if you don't feel like arsing around with the GUI for it.

~~~
soegaard
The defaults has changed in modern times (5 years ago?).

