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Microsoft Wants Your Feedback On Its New Python IDE

Posted by timothy on from the is-the-embrace-part-of-the-python? dept.

First time accepted submitter phoolishcyrus writes "Dear Slashdot: would you kindly take a look at our little project, PTVS — Python Tools for Visual Studio? It helps you develop Python (using any interpreter, not just IronPython) and comes with a few other goodies. Spare no punches."

8 of 303 comments (clear)

  1. What the shell is this? by tepples · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "Note: PTVS does not install into VS Express Editions". It needs some sort of Visual Studio Shell, which is separate from VS Express for some odd reason.

    And has Microsoft added the necessary pieces to the version of the .NET Compact Framework for Xbox 360 Indie Games and Windows Phone 7 to allow DLR languages such as IronPython to work in applications for those platforms?

    1. Re:What the shell is this? by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 3, Informative

      A simple way to explain the difference between VS Express and VS Shell is this:

      VS Shell is VS without any language-specific services. Basically you get the core IDE services only - menus, toolbars & tool windows, command system to wire it all up, text editor (with syntax highlighting, but you need a language plugin to drive it), and core build services. This is mainly intended for the use by anyone who's making their own language, and wants to build it on top of an existing IDE - they just take VS Shell, slap their own language service and project system on top, and redistribute the result. One real world example of a commercial product doing this is Delphi Prism. However, the side effect is that Shell can also be used by end users to install extensions on top to get a working product for free.

      VS Express (like any other VS version) is, essentially, VS Shell + whatever language the Express edition supports (C#/VB/C++); but with any further extensibility disabled.

      In other words, with VS, for free, you can either have plugins (in particular, other third-party languages) without Microsoft's C++/C#/VB tooling, or C++/C#/VB tooling without plugins. If you want both at the same time, you need VS Professional or higher, which is not free.

  2. Re:Why? by Tridus · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Maybe there's people who already have Visual Studio for other work purposes and also do python stuff?

    It seems unlikely they'd make it if there was nobody using python on Windows.

    --
    -- "So they told me that using the download page to download something was not something they anticipated." - Bill Gates
  3. Ups and Downs by robertkeizer · · Score: 3, Informative

    I find it okay to work in. Coming from VI and the command line some of the features are nice, others not so much. One thing I noticed about the python plugin for VS is that when using PySide, you must run in interactive mode, rather than debug. A nice feature that I found lacking was for VS to automatically generate a list of classes and functions for a library that is imported. Obviously this tool is integrated fairly heavily into python at points as evident in the profiling section ( good work by the way ), so it would be handy to refresh classes/module listings when "import foo" or "from foo import bar" was detected in a save. All in all, not a bad development system.

  4. Are you serious? by phonewebcam · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Whilst you continue extorting $5 per Android handset from HTC your new touchy-feely lets-be-buddies act is worth less than piss froth. So no, I won't even be dignifying your request with a visit to your site out of curiosity.

  5. Re:Oh come on! by Opportunist · · Score: 3

    The problem with these movies is that they end where the bigger bully leaves town. What they don't show is that the bully returns to his start-of-the-movie-ways.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  6. Re:Why? by goombah99 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    First all python IDEs I've used stink. Now I have not used them all so I'd be happy to hear suggests but please keep reading. So MS entry is welcome

    Second, unless this IDE is cross platform it will HURT not help python programming. Even if you plan just to eat your own dogfood, you mere use of it means that it MS only features wil creep into your lexicon and those of your colleagues. Don't do that. use cross platform tools.

    --
    Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
  7. MSFT guy here. will answer as many Q's by phoolishcyrus · · Score: 5, Informative

    as best I can (while running between meetings)! Thanks for all your comments & questions so far.

    Background info:

    PTVS is basically a 2 person (1 dev, 1 test) effort. Recently we had a summer intern & a new dev has joined since to work on Big Data (think dryad/hadoop/etc) which is great. We've been running "under the radar" so to speak until now. The parts that we're actually most proud of are that we convinced mgmt to let us do this as Open Source, and more importantly under Apache 2.0. The fact we can actually accept code contributions back (may be a 1st?) is huge too. Not a big deal for most, but trust me, as staunch pro OSS guys, it was a big deal & took a lot of work to accomplish...

    Thanks in advance & on to answering questions...

    PS Just updated the project page w a couple of videos to give you an overview. Excuse the cheesy production, we don't exactly have a marketing dept.

    PTVS - Core editing experience : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CoGsSlrxKk
    PTVS - Profiling : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCx7rlPyEzE