Get to work with Python in this PyCharm tutorial
There are integrated development environments for an array of developer preferences and needs. As the Python programming language grows in popularity, a variety of general-purpose and Python-specific IDEs have popped up to help developers quickly build applications with the language.
PyCharm, an IDE built by JetBrains, specifically caters to developers who work with Python. Through the use of Python virtual environments, which are called venv, PyCharm helps ease testing and coding. The IDE provides features such as autocompletion of methods and properties, on-the-fly debugging and an integrated unit tester.
There are both free and paid versions available. If you find that the base feature set of PyCharm isn't enough, consider the paid version, which addresses more web development needs. PyCharm's paid version offers additional support for several languages; frameworks, like Flask and Django; remote debugging; VMs; Unified Modeling Language and SQLAlchemy diagrams; and remote interpreters for Docker and HashiCorp Vagrant.
PyCharm tutorial
In this PyCharm video tutorial, we overview some basic features of the IDE for Python. Learn how to create a new project, select a venv, install a library and create a new Python file in PyCharm.
The PyCharm tutorial walks through a new project, looking at the built-in libraries available in PyCharm and how to add more, such as for Cloudflare and Microsoft Azure. It also covers why a venv in an IDE is useful.
In the PyCharm IDE, you can build and run code, catch and debug syntax errors, and create scratch files. Follow along with the example in the PyCharm tutorial to see how the product prompts users to fix problems, such as a missing colon or even advanced syntax issues. The video also gets into the basic terminal built into PyCharm, where the developer can work with Python and run code. Finally, it covers scratch files, where the developer can try out different versions of code, such as a few different methods for login authentication, without affecting the clean primary code base.
PyCharm is just one example of a Python-supported IDE. General-purpose IDEs with Python support include Microsoft Visual Studio, Eclipse with PyDev, Vim, Atom and Sublime Text 3. Specific IDEs for Python include Spyder, Wing and Thonny.