[Tutor] While learning Py: To IDE or not to IDE?

[Joel Goldstick]

On Mon, May 21, 2012 at 5:06 AM, Steven D'Aprano <steve at pearwood.info> wrote:
> On Sun, May 20, 2012 at 11:57:14PM -0600, Modulok wrote:
>
>> Learning to use a command line at first feels really clunky and primitive, but
>> eventually it eclipses most GUI's and IDE's in terms of speed and the tools
>> available. You can also ooze right into system administration without much
>> effort.
>
> Perhaps the hardest part about using the command line is
> *discoverability*. There is nothing even close to the equivalent of
> clicking on a menu to see what commands are available. If you have a bad
> memory for commands you use only once every six months, like I do,
> you'll forever be googling for "how do I do X on Linux?" type questions.
> "Oh yeah, that's right, it's such-and-such a command."
>
> But if you can get past that, and I understand that commandlines are not
> for everyone, they are *much* more powerful and efficient than graphical
> applications, for many (although not all!) tasks.
>
>
>
> --
> Steven
>
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There seem to be two different mindsets about ide vs plain editor.  I
used to be an MS guy and I used MS IDE.  Its nice in that you get
dropdowns for things you might kind of know, but can't remember.  They
save keystrokes.  And if that world is good for you, then go that way.

Since moving away from MS to Linux, I have had to switch my thinking.
Of course in python there is good documentation available with
help(whatever) in the interactive shell.  Its great!  I like the
spareness of an editor, switching from vim (which I know just the tip
of the iceberg) and gedit.  It makes it easy to work on different
machines, ssh to a server and edit stuff there.

You are planning to learn a whole lot of new stuff, which may be
doable for you, but I couldn't do that.  You will find plenty to
challenge your mind with python, an editor, and a tutorial or two (or
Alan's book!).  Read-code-discover-repeat.  You can pick up tools
along the way when it seems they would make something more productive.

but... others like IDEs


-- 
Joel Goldstick