Writing Python code typically involves what it known as a Text Editor. Our recommendation for a text editor is either Sublime Text 3, which costs money but is free to use, or Microsoft VS Code.
- Text Editor For Mac Python Editor
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Atom Text Editor has joined the list of best text editors for Mac and has already left its mark in being quite capable and powerful tool. Atom too is a free and open source text editing tool and is maintained through one of the well-known repository – GitHub. Download PyPE (Python Programmers Editor) for free. PyPE (Python Programmers Editor) was written in order to offer a lightweight but powerful editor for those of you who think emacs is too much and idle is too little. Syntax highlighting is included out of the box, as is multiple open documents via tabs. Vim, in fine, is another text-editor-as-lifestyle. Most committed vim users use vim for almost all their editing. Editors: Summary. There are a lot of decent editors for Python, but a few stand out: there's the lifestyle editors, Emacs and Vim, both of which are powerful but have vicious learning curves. Atom Text Editor has joined the list of best text editors for Mac and has already left its mark in being quite capable and powerful tool. Atom too is a free and open source text editing tool and is maintained through one of the well-known repository – GitHub. The goal of this article is to help you get up and running on a Mac writing Python using the Sublime Text IDE. Sublime Text is a simple IDE/text editor that can be used with a number of languages, including Python.
The functional difference between these two editors is small — they both accomplish the same things, effectively. Which one you chose is a matter of personal taste. There are other editors, like vim, Atom, or emacs, which you may chose to use instead. Whatever works best for you is best.
I personally use and vastly prefer Sublime Text 3 to all other options available. It’s easily my favorite editor. If it didn’t exist though, I’d be using VS Code.
Note
There are a few “soft requirements” for a text editor to have, when working professionally (or recreationally), with Python code:
- Support for “soft tabs”
- Support for visible whitespace (this is crucial when working with Python files)
Nice–to–haves:
- Support for “rulers”, which show a vertical line after the 79th character, as PEP8 recommends.
- Built-in linter for showing syntax errors as you type.
- Built-in support for Flake8, which enforces PEP8 standards as you type.
Sublime Text 3¶
Sublime Text doesn’t support all of these things by itself, but it comes with a great system called Package Control, which allows for easy installation/management of third-party plugins.
Sublime Text 3 Plugin Recommendations¶
- Package Control
- Sublime’s Package Manager — can be installed via **
- Anaconda
- Fantastic “Python IDE” for Sublime Text, which offers code linting, PEP8 support, and auto–completion. Works great with Pipenv (and the
subl
launcher). Highly recommended.
Additionally Useful Plugins¶
- GitSavvy
- Allows you to git push/pull/stage right from Sublime Text.
- GitGutter
- Places the current git status of edited lines in your gutter. Very useful.
Sublime Text 3 Tricks¶
subl
Launcher¶
Once installed, the command–line
subl
launcher will allow you to easily open up projects from your terminal (e.g. $subl.
). In addition, it also will inform plugins like Anaconda of which Python interpreter to use, based on the currently activated virtual environment.To enable this shortcut, if you’re on a Mac, do the following:
Then, the
subl
command will be available to you, always.PEP8 Rulers¶
According to PEP8, all lines of Python should typically be set to a maximum length of 79 characters (72 if documentation).
Let’s configure Sublime Text to display these rulers. Go into Preferences ➞ Settings, and add the following JSON:
Now, you’ll see nice vertical lines at 72 and 79 characters, informing you of how long your lines are!
Microsoft Visual Studio Code (VS Code)¶
Microsoft VS Code guides you through setting up the Python package, built by Microsoft themselves, the first time you run it.
How can i move around in text document in word for mac. VS Code comes built in with git support and a package system that allows you to customize the editor to your liking. It is built upon Electron (just like Github’s Atom editor) and thus works on various platforms.
Microsoft VS Code Extensions Recommendations¶
- Python Extension for Visual Studio Code
- by MicrosoftLinting, Debugging (multi-threaded, remote), Intellisense, code formatting, refactoring, unit tests, snippets, Data Science (with Jupyter), PySpark and more.
- vscode-flake8
- MagicPython
- Syntax highlighter for cutting edge Python.
- Python Extension Pack
- Don Jayamanne’s extension pack installs all the useful Python packages for VS Code in one fell swoop.
Additionally Helpful Plugins¶
- Jupyter
- Data Science with Jupyter on Visual Studio Code.
- Django Template
- Django template language support for Visual Studio Code.
- Django Snippets
- Common Django snippets for everyday use.
Microsoft VS Code Tricks¶
- Select a version of Python using Ctrl + Shift + P:
- “Python: Select Interpreter”
https://pentree278.weebly.com/3d-text-animation-software-free-for-mac.html. You can run your code using the integrated terminal. Open it using Ctrl + `.
Microsoft VS Code Launcher¶
Mac: After installing VS Code, running code from the terminal as easy as typing
code
Rulers¶
PEP8 compliant rulers can be added to VS Code by adding the following lines to your User Settings:
Active1 year, 5 months ago
I'm about to start a new job where the coding practices are heavily centered around TDD and refactoring, and whose primary development language is Python. I come from the Java world, and have been a confident user of Eclipse for a good, long time. When not working in Java, I use emacs.
I'm looking for an IDE for Python that will give me a lot of the capabilities I've grown used to with Eclipse, not only for refactoring but in terms of code completion, project management, SCM integration (currently CVS, but likely to switch to git one of these days) et al.
What IDE should I use?
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closed as off-topic by l4mpi, jb., Dismissile, Afzaal Ahmad Zeeshan, LarsTechMay 21 '14 at 14:07
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22 Answers
Have tried many different (Kate, Eclipse, Scite, Vim, Komodo): each one have some glitches, either limited functions, or slow and unresponsive. Final choice after many years: Emacs + ropemacs + flymake. Rope project file open dialog is extremely quick. Rope refactoring and code assist functions are super helpful. Flymake shows syntax mistakes. Emacs is the most configurable editor. I am very happy with this config. Python related part of config is here: public.halogen-dg.com browser/alex-emacs-settings/configs/cfg_python.el
user111443user111443
My 2 pennies, check out PyCharmhttp://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/
(also multi-platform)
TimTim1,65222 gold badges1313 silver badges1212 bronze badges
I use TextMate for all my Python programming needs. It's not an IDE per se, but it does a lot of stuff that an IDE does (without all the cruft of an IDE). It has syntax highlighting, code folding, integration with various SCMs through the use of additional bundles (I know it supports SVN, Git, Mercurial, Darcs, and probably a few others). It's also quite extensible and customizable (again, through the use of bundles). It also has a basic concept of projects. One place where it doesn't shine, though, is in code completion; some bundles have limited support for code completion, but it's generally not as amazing as that of most language-specific IDEs. Given how awesome TextMate is, though, I don't know sacrificing that. TextMate's definitely made me much more productive.
mipadimipadi305k7171 gold badges472472 silver badges454454 bronze badges
Pydev for Eclipse, as others have mentioned, is good.
Netbeans has a beta Python plugin that is a little rough around the edges, but could turn into something really cool.
Additionally there is a long list of programming centric text editors for the mac, that may or may not fit your needs.
- Textmate - costs money, people love this program, but I haven't used it enough to see what all the fuss is about.
- Jedit - Java based text editor, has some nice features, but the startup time isn't great (due to Java).
- CarbonEmacs - Decent Emacs port.
- AquaEmacs - Better Emacs port.
- TextWrangler - Lite, free (as in beer) verision of BBEdit.
- BBEdit - The old guard. The defacto editor before Textmate stole its limelight. Expensive.
- Smultron - Very nice editor, the UI is similar to Textmate.
- Idle - Python's own little editor, has some nice features, but also some major problems. I've personally found it too unstable for my usage.
- Sublime Text - This is really sweet text editor that has some surprisingly good Python support.
- Pycharm - Another solid full on IDE for Python.
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James McMahonJames McMahon31.5k5858 gold badges177177 silver badges263263 bronze badges
Eclipse with Pydev works best for me on any platform.
ismailismail36.4k88 gold badges7373 silver badges8888 bronze badges
I really enjoy using PyCharm. http://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/
jdsantiagojrjdsantiagojr
I usually use either komodo edit or aquamacs with ropemacs. Although I should warn you, IDE features won't be what you're used to if you're coming from a Java or C# background. I personally find that powerful IDEs get in my way more than they help.
UPDATE: I should also point out that if you have the money Komodo IDE is worth it. It's the paid version of Komodo Edit.
Jason BakerJason Baker112k112112 gold badges340340 silver badges493493 bronze badges
lostlogiclostlogic
I like Spyder, it has many tools, such as profiling, intelligent indentation helper and a good autocompletion support
linellolinello3,71988 gold badges5151 silver badges8686 bronze badges
If you have a budget for your IDE, you should give Wingware Professional a try, see wingware.com .
Alex MartelliAlex Martelli660k135135 gold badges10611061 silver badges12941294 bronze badges
I've used WingIDE and have been very happy. Intellisense is pretty good, some other things are a bit wacky but overall it's a very productive tool
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If you are looking for an interactive environment and not needing to code modules, I would suggest IPython. Though this is developed with scientists/statisticians in mind, it will run just as well without any of the scientific packages installed. The features are powerful, with code completion, integrated help, integrated debugging, etc., and it functions as a notebook with Markdown and MathJax integration. By far the best choice for those that need powerful features without wishing to load megabytes of GUI into RAM--since it is browser based, it is used in your always loaded chrome/safari instance. ;-)
DallasDallas44922 gold badges66 silver badges2121 bronze badges
Eclipse PyDev plugin.
jbaskojbaskoText Editor For Mac Python Editor
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since you are familiar with Eclipse maybe you are interested in Pydev
KonstantinosKonstantinos8,76399 gold badges4343 silver badges5858 bronze badges
Python support on netbeans is surprisingly good, and comes with most of the features you're looking for.
Up.Up.
TextMate or Panic's Coda. NetBeans works very well, if you want a full-blown kitchen sink IDE.
Jeff OberJeff Ober
I've searched on Google for an app like this for a while, and I've found only options with heavy and ugly interfaces.
Then I opened Mac App Store and found CodeRunner. Very nice and clean interface. Support many languages like Python, Lua, Perl, Ruby, Javascript, etc. The price is U$10, but it's worth it!
Jan K. S.Jan K. S.1,33111 gold badge1111 silver badges1313 bronze badges
'Which editor/IDE for ..?' is a longstanding way to start a 'My dog is too prettier than yours!' slapfest. Word for mac show hidden text. Nowadays most editors from
vim
upwards can be used, there are multiple good alternatives, and even IDEs that started as C or Java tools work pretty well with Python and other dynamic languages.That said, having tried a bunch of IDEs (Eclipse, NetBeans, XCode, Komodo, PyCharm, ..), I am a fan of ActiveState's Komodo IDE. I use it on Mac OS X primarily, though I've used it for years on Windows as well. The one license follows you to any platform.
Komodo is well-integrated with popular ActiveState builds of the languages themselves (esp. for Windows), works well with the fabulous (and Pythonic) Mercurial change management system (among others), and has good-to-excellent abilities for core tasks like code editing, syntax coloring, code completion, real-time syntax checking, and visual debugging. It is a little weak when it comes to pre-integrated refactoring and code-check tools (e.g. rope, pylint), but it is extensible and has a good facility for integrating external and custom tools.
Some of the things I like about Komodo go beyond the write-run-debug loop. ActiveState has long supported the development community (e.g. with free language builds, package repositories, a recipes site, ..), since before dynamic languages were the trend. The base Komodo Edit editor is free and open source, an extension of Mozilla's Firefox technologies. And Komodo is multi-lingual. I never end up doing just Python, just Perl, or just whatever. Komodo works with the core language (Python, Perl, Ruby, PHP, JavaScript) alongside supporting languages (XML, XSLT, SQL, X/HTML, CSS), non-dynamic languages (Java, C, etc.), and helpers (Makefiles, INI and config files, shell scripts, custom little languages, etc.) Others can do that too, but Komodo puts them all in once place, ready to go. It's a Swiss Army Knife for dynamic languages. (This is contra PyCharm, e.g., which is great itself, but I'd need like a half-dozen of JetBrains' individual IDEs to cover all the things I do).
Komodo IDE is by no means perfect, and editors/IDEs are the ultimate YMMV choice. But I am regularly delighted to use it, and every year I re-up my support subscription quite happily. Indeed, I just remembered! That's coming up this month. Credit card: Out. I have no commercial connection to ActiveState--just a happy customer.
Jonathan EuniceJonathan Eunice12k33 gold badges5151 silver badges6161 bronze badges
You might want to look into Eclim, an Eclipse server that allows you to use Eclipse functionality from within your favorite text editor. For python-related functionality, it uses Rope, PyFlakes, and PyLint under the hood.
mindthiefmindthief4,9761313 gold badges4646 silver badges5555 bronze badges
I've been using an Evaluation copy of
Sublime Text
. What's good is it doesn't really expire. It's been good so far and was really easy to get started with.
Sagar HatekarSagar Hatekar6,2251414 gold badges4949 silver badges7272 bronze badges
I may be a little late for this, but I would recommend Aptana Studio 3.x . Its a based on eclipse and has everything ready-to-go for
python
. It has very good support for DJango, HTML5 and JQuery
. For me its a perfect web-development tool. I do HTML5 and Android
development too, this way I do not need to keep switching different IDE's. It my all-in-one solution. Note: you need a good amount of RAM for this to be snazzy !! 4+ GB is awesome !!
Freakyuser1,7711515 gold badges4040 silver badges6565 bronze badges
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Visual Studio Code + Official Python Plugin
Here you see an overview of its current Python features:
Chocolat
Python Editor For Mac
EDIT:Apparently Chocolat was an interesting option in 2013 but since then many others came up and development stalled. Nowadays I recommend Visual Studio Code + Python Plugin.
BijanBest Text Editor For Mac Python
Bijan20.2k55 gold badges6868 silver badges6464 bronze badges