ANN: Python Tools for Visual Studio 1.1 Beta 1

[Dino Viehland]

We're pleased to announce the release of Python Tools for Visual Studio 1.1 Beta ( http://pytools.codeplex.com/releases/view/76089 ). Python Tools for Visual Studio (PTVS) is an open-source plug-in for Visual Studio which supports programming with the Python programming language. This release includes new core IDE features, a couple of new sample libraries for interacting with Kinect and Excel, and many bug fixes for issues reported since the release of 1.0.

Since the last alpha release we've fixed over 30 bugs and implemented several features around the project system and references. For IronPython users you can now add references to .NET projects or .NET assemblies and we'll automatically reload and re-analyze the references when they're rebuilt. For CPython users you can now add a reference to a .pyd extension module and we'll analyze the extension module and provide completions. We've also improved intellisense across multiple Python projects in the same solution. Finally we've added support for using IPython mode w/o PyLab - this enables out-of-line graphs and improves the startup time of the interactive window.

We've also added many new features which improve the basic editing experience which were also available during 1.1 Alpha. This includes a feature for automatically adding imports after typing an identifier, a command for cleaning up unused imports, support for recognizing isinstance() calls and using them for providing improved completions, and using goto definition to go to members defined in the standard library. We've also made improvements to the project system so it'll behave more like the C# including proper support of linked files outside of the project directory. And we've made some improvements to our IPython REPL support including support for inline graphs and proper support for IPython's numbered prompts. Finally we've made several small improvements to the debugger including the option to step into the Python standard library while debugging, the option to not break on SystemExit exception with exit codes of zero as well as displaying the Python thread name in the threads window. Altogether this release includes over 130 features and bug fixes since 1.0 - a complete list of the changes is available here: http://bit.ly/IpyTools11Beta1Fixes

Another major addition to 1.1 includes the addition of two additional sample libraries available as separate downloads: PyKinect for working with the Kinect Beta SDK and Pyvot for working with Excel spreadsheets. Once downloaded and installed these plug-in to Visual Studio and provide templates; and they provide built-in support for installing into one of the recognized Python interpreters via Tools->Python Tools->Samples.

The PyKinect sample is a wrapper around the Kinect SDK and enables development with the Kinect SDK directly from Python. The library presents an API which is similar to the API exposed via the Kinect SDK for C# developers. The sample includes a new template for quickly getting started creating games using PyGame with PyKinect. PyKinect is licensed under a license similar to the existing Kinect SDK.

Pyvot (pronounced Pivot) connects familiar data-exploration and visualization tools in Excel with the powerful data analysis and transformation capabilities of Python, with an emphasis on tabular data. It provides a simple and Pythonic interface to Excel, smoothing over the pain points in using the existing Excel object model as exposed via COM.

We'd like to thank all of the users who took the time to report issues and feedback for this release: 445363200, Andrew, AphexSA, benpmorgan, chadbr, dgkbny, drgn, holmboe, hyh, jimpeak, juanalumni, lblanchon, liuzhenhai, mahpour, MichaelBaker, po6856, pztrick44, salerio, slide_o_mix, somini, SoonStudios, stakemura, sumitbasu, swift_dev, synergetic, teebot, timeisaparallax, tonyandrewmeyer, xavier_grundus, and Zooba.

Thanks,
The Python Tools for Visual Studio Team