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Python IDE for Mac OS X?

Posted by Cliff on from the fruits-and-snakes dept.

benbranch asks: "I am presently learning the Python programming language. The language itself is brilliant and seems very easy to pick up, however my problem is finding a decent IDE. I use Mac OS X (as Windows is excruciating), and though I love Linux (Debian/Ubuntu) all my work computers are Mac's. Can anyone advise me as too a good open source IDE for Mac? If there are any Python programmers out there using Macs, I would love to hear from you."

10 of 113 comments (clear)

  1. Text Editors... by Big+Sean+O · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If I'm learning a language (as opposed to working on a project with others), I find I seldom need all the bells and whistles an IDE provides.

    I know of two text editors that provide excellent Python integration.

    * BBEdit: http://www.barebones.com/products/bbedit/index.sht ml
    * Vim: http://macvim.org/OSX/index.php

    I like Vim better for two reasons. First, it is slightly cheaper; and secondly it has the words Don't Panic inscribed
    in large friendly letters on its cover.

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    My father is a blogger.
    1. Re:Text Editors... by Fahrenheit+450 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Meh. BBEdit is grossly overpriced, even with their dumbass "crossgrade" from TextWrangler. Vim, TextEdit, emacs, and smultron are each far better editors at far better prices. And SubEthaEdit is pretty decent with an unbeatable price as well.

      The folk over at BareBones have been cruising on reputation far too long with their substandard products...

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      -30-
    2. Re:Text Editors... by prichardson · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I'm a huge fan of SubEthaEdit.

      It's free for personal use and available at http://www.codingmonkeys.de/subethaedit/

      The collaborative text editing feature is cool, but I never really found a use for it.

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      Help I'm a rock.
  2. KOMODO? by rakanishu · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I know it's not open source, but Active State's KOMODO has a mac version now. The personal edition is pretty cheap.

    I just use VIM, but I wouldn't consider it an IDE.

  3. MacPython by Tachikoma · · Score: 4, Interesting

    you can download and IDE(PythonIDE) and extras from MacPython

    i'm in the same boat, i just got a powerbook for christmas and i downloaded the stuff last night, wanting to learn some python.

    i had trouble with the install, all the latest stuff is for 10.3 and i've got 10.4. the wiki FAQ can get you up and going. also has a package manager and you can download PyObjC, which is a "bridge" (wrapper class?) so you can code in python and use cocoa elements. just getting my mac a week ago, i don't actually know what much of the above means, but thats where i'm heading.

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    i don't care
  4. Eclipse w/Plugin by bblazer · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I think that you may want to take a look at Eclipse and download the python plug in. I have really enjoyed using Eclipse and the python plugin is pretty darn good. Plus you are only a step or two away from giving jython a test drive. I am running this on a Mac PB with no problems.

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    My .bashrc can beat up your .bashrc!
  5. Re:Have you seen... by Directrix1 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'll just save everybody the hassle of going there: SPE - Stani's Python Editor. IMHO, this is by far the best open source free python editor. It blew me away. It is even nice for designing GUIs since it comes with wxGlade. Although, it does still have a few quirks, it is very usable.

    --
    Occam's razor is the blind faith in the natural selection of least resistance and in universal oversimplification. -- EF
  6. Re:TextMate. by John+Nowak · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I dislike TextMate.

    1. The undo functionality is crippled. Undo "undoes" one character at a time. This stops me from working the way I like to, which often involves adding a few lines, testing the code, and hitting undo if it didn't work out.

    Er... well that's it actually. What is up with that undo functionality?
    Someone please correct me if I am doing something wrong here. Maybe I am.
    Ah well, back to TextWrangler.

  7. Re:Komodo on OS X is a solid choice by neelm · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Another nice thing about the license is that it is good for windows, mac, and linux versions per developer - so if you work on multiple platforms you can have the same IDE on all. If you need cross platform support, Komodo and Eclipse would be the two to consider, imho.

  8. Not an IDE, but a LEO by FFFish · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Leo, the Literate Editor with Outlines, kicks ass once you learn to use it.

    It creates self-documenting code through its use of outlining. The use of outlining automagically encapsulates complex algorithms and ideas. One ends up with this bitchin' combination of structural/algorithmical/conceptual outline nodes and actual code.

    I so very much wish that IDEs would start using LEO techniques. It would truly provide the best of all worlds.

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