[Tutor] Power Shells [WAS:] optimization: faster than for

[Kent Johnson]

ALAN GAULD wrote:
>>>>> In [6]:f7([97, 98, 99])
>>>>> Out[6]:'abc'
>>> I can't remember which tool does this - IronPython maybe?
>> It's IPython -- http://ipython.scipy.org/moin/
> 
> Now for some reason I assumed IPython was the IDE for IronPython.
> Having checked out the web link its obviously completely unrelated!
> 
> PyCrust, IPython, SPE, Eclipse/PyDev
> 
> Suddenly it seems like I have an embarassment of advanced 
> shells to choose from. At risk of starting a religious war, who 
> favours which and why?

I like IPython. I only use a fraction of its features. Some that I like are
- persistent and smart command history, so for example when I start the 
shell, type 'fr' and up-arrow, it will show me the last 'from xx import 
yy' I typed. I'm using Django a lot and frequently import the same model 
classes so this is very handy.

- remembers the results of each line, for example _10 is the result of 
line 10.

- automatic pretty-printing, for example lists will have newlines 
inserted between items as needed
- smart tab completion
- smart paste
- you can edit a multi-line command in a separate editor
- verbose stack traces - usually I turn this off but it can be handy
- colorized stack traces and integrated help

Kent