[Python-Dev] IDLE in the stdlib (original) (raw)

Beni Paskin-Cherniavsky cben at users.sf.net
Thu Mar 21 03:30:10 CET 2013

Eli Bendersky <eliben gmail.com> writes:

Oh, and another thing. If a Windows user wants a good Python shell, IDLE should be his last choice. There's Spyder, there's IPython, there's probably a bunch of others I'm not aware of.This is for IDLE as a shell. The same can be said for IDLE as an editor.This is precisely my main gripe with IDLE: it does a lot of things, but neither of them it does well.

Actually, there are surprisingly little competition to IDLE as a shell! IDLE has mostly working multi-line editing and history, while most "sophisticated" environments (including Spyder) work line-by-line, which makes
defining a function (let alone a class) in the shell prohibitively painful.

The only other shells I could recommend to a beginner are:

  1. IPython, which of course does multi-line editing superbly. Its non-standard extensions are a distraction and it's too far into power-user end of the spectrum to ever become a fits-all recommendation. The notebook is enough of a win to tip the scales for some educators, but the jury is still out if that's a smooth beginner experience.
  2. Dreampie, designed by an ex-IDLE-contributor for the sole purpose of being a better shell than IDLE. However, lack of an editor makes it less practical as an introductory tool.

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