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I used to develop Java or HTML/PHP project on NetBeans. I appreciate a number of its functionality like :

  • Fast code libraries browsing
  • Code refactoring
  • Auto-completion
  • Highlight syntax errors
  • FTP upload
  • Project/favorites file browser
  • Keep file histories
  • Step by step debugging tools

I have recently needed to start on Python development, I've seen that the NetBeans Community (it's not an official Oracle support) try to provide Python support, but I would like to know if there is another Python IDE which offer functionality of the same quality than NetBeans can provide?

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4 Answers 4

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At work, I am also using Netbeans and for my Python side projects I am using PyCharm. As I use it only for small project I don't know if it provides every feature which you need. But Auto-completion, Highlight syntax errors, Code refactoring is provided.

A big advantage of the program is that you can change its shortcut layout to the layout which Netbeans uses. Thus you don't need to learn new shortcuts.

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  • Do you know if it provides FTP support or any remote versionning system ? Feb 9, 2014 at 18:44
  • I know that git is integrated and probably also other VCS. For the FTP support I had to watch the documentation and it seems that a FTP upload is supported.
    – gillesB
    Feb 10, 2014 at 7:56
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Notepad++ is my de facto IDE -- It has support for plugins/extensions, and I'm pretty sure it supports syntax highlighting for almost every language. If you make up a new language, it supports user-defined languages. And, it's easily configurable to run python scripts right in the IDE, with a built-in console for input/output.

  • Fast code libraries browsing -- yes, editor is fast
  • Code refactoring -- no support, no such plugins
  • Auto-completion -- only completions for fixed set of standard functions npp-python; no usual completions
  • Highlight syntax errors -- only usual syntax highlighting, making it easier to see errors; no support for syntax checks
  • FTP upload - yes
  • Project/favorites file browser - yes
  • Keep file histories - yes
  • Step by step debugging tools - no support

Good Luck!

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  • 1
    This post does not contain enough information to be considered a high quality answer. Please read our discussion on what makes an answer high quality to see if you can incorporate some of these improvements into your answer. Specifically for this Answer I'd suggest running over the list of requirements of saying at least yes/no - better to say for example 'no but you can add x addon to make it do that' or 'yes, easy and intutive' etc. Mar 4, 2014 at 2:43
  • btw welcome to Software Recommendations :D Mar 4, 2014 at 2:43
  • 1
    @NickWilde Thanks! I'll try to make it better.
    – evamvid
    Mar 4, 2014 at 3:20
  • looking much improved - I edited it to be a list; when you finish answering the rest of the list it'll be a high quality answer :D Mar 4, 2014 at 4:51
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SynWrite editor (free) supports Python code partially. It has syntax hiliting but limited support for IDE things: no refactorings, but some IDE features supported (see below).

  • Fast code libraries browsing - editor is fast
  • Code refactoring - no
  • Auto-completion - yes, such plugin exists, see SynJedi
  • Highlight syntax errors - both syntax hiliting and syntax-checking supported, see forums for SynLint plugin which hilites Python errors
  • FTP upload - yes, plugin included
  • Project/favorites file browser - yes, project manager included
  • Keep file histories - yes

  • Step by step debugging tools - no

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Note: I am the co-founder of Wingware, makers of Wing IDE for Python

Wing IDE has those features, except for ftp upload where we recommend setting up something like CurlFtpFS or ExpanDrive.

For browsing code, you can use goto-definition, find all uses of a symbol, jump to a symbol by typing a fragment of its name, work from index menus at the top of the editors, or use the source browser.

Refactoring operations include rename, move, extract to function/method, and introduce variable.

Code completion uses both static analysis and runtime state when available (from the debugger or when working in the Python Shell) and also includes context-appropriate call tip info, documentation, etc, which in Wing are shown in the Source Assistant tool.

Syntax errors are highlighted as you type, although Wing waits until you leave a line before it starts complaining about its syntax.

FTP upload is missing, but there are various ways to do this as noted above.

Wing has a project manager. Typically you add the files you're actually working on and configure Python Path as needed in Project Properties (from the Project menu) so Wing can find all the libraries you use. Then you can open files from the project by typing a fragment of the name, search only files in the project, etc.

Wing has recent menus for most things, including files opened or visited, and there is a browser-like history for going backward from a point of definition, etc.

The debugger is very solid, with stepping, breaking on breakpoints or exceptions, data inspection, an interactive shell that works in the context of the current debug stack frame, conditional breakpoints, ability to watch values by symbolic name or object reference, and remote debugging.

There are various keyboard personalities available, including Eclipse, Visual Studio, emacs, and vi... but not NetBeans, although you can add custom key bindings.

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