Python, IDEs, and OS X

Tw4win

I'm finally taking the plunge and learning Python but before I begin, I have a couple of quick questions.

1) What's the latest/best version of Python to download the a Mac? I know that OS X comes with Python pre-installed but I've heard that most of the time this installation is out of date.

2) How about editing environments? Any preferred tools on the Mac?

RBach

There's a download for OSX at the official Python site. It seems to be the same version as the Windows version, but I don't know how it compares to what's built in to OSX.

Tofystedeth

I dunno, I use IDLE. It does okay. I hear Komodo and Eclipse are good, but don't know anything about Macability on those. Also, Komodo isn't free.

Latest version of Python is 2.5.2.

Dírhael

Tofystedeth wrote: »

I dunno, I use IDLE. It does okay. I hear Komodo and Eclipse are good, but don't know anything about Macability on those. Also, Komodo isn't free.

Latest version of Python is 2.5.2.

I use Komodo IDE on Windows & Linux, and while I haven't tried it I know they have a OSX version as well. Haven't done any Python programming in it though, but I hear from those who do that it's really good. As you mention, it's not free but they do have a cheaper non-commercial license.

LoneIgadzra

It's a pain, but with some effort you can get PyDev working in Eclipse. It has some pretty irritating directory structure quirks though, like I wanted to kill myself after spending an hour trying to get it to make the packages I wanted when I could just set it up a folder-package in five minutes with a text editor. If you don't let it organize everything its way, it craps out, and it's infuriatingly difficult to import files into an eclipse project.

I recommend TextMate tbh. It costs some money but you'll quickly be glad of your investment. Not an IDE, but really an awesome text editor to have and has wonderful Python functionality.

You can try installing the latest Python, but I had no end of trouble getting various modules like PyObjc working in it. Automatic installers for lots of major modules like Numeric don't work quite right and in general you'll just make your life harder by trying it. A ton of "compile it yourself" modules I downloaded didn't work right at all. They like installed to the wrong folder or some shit even though I ran their configure scripts using Python 2.5.2 and not the system Python.

It does keep itself separate, and installs its command line tools to a different folder, but you'll still get a major headache trying to figure out what goes with system Python and what goes with the new one. I eventually just deleted all extra "eggs" I could find everywhere, erased the downloaded Python 2.5.2 framework, and started from square one with the built-in 2.5.1 and lo and behold pygame compiled again.

ymmv of course.

bash

If all you're interested in syntax highlighting and basic script-running Xcode works alright with Python (and Ruby). There's also TextMate which can invoke scripts through the GUI as well. Of course there's always emacs and vim if you're interested in going that route.

LoneIgadzra

Xcode will set you up with a Pyobjc project pretty easily, but getting it to do something more "pure" might require some effort.

I believe TextMate has vastly superior Python syntax hilighting though.

DeathPrawn

If you want something kinda like TextMate but don't want to pay, Smultron is pretty decent. It's got most everything you'd expect (syntax highlighting, etc) and you can do some pretty nifty stuff with custom keyboard shortcuts (set up Cmd + a letter to execute the command "python [currentfile]", for example).

I personally use Aquamacs Emacs, but that's definitely not the right solution for everyone.

LoneIgadzra

I tried Smultron a couple of times before I found the cash for TextMate, but it gave me the overall impression of being really sluggish and I went back to TextWrangler.