Python Programming On Win32

Chapter 4. Integrated Development Environments for Python

In this chapter we look at two integrated development environments (IDEs) for Python on Windows:

• PythonWin provides IDE capabilities for Python on Windows. It has a number of features in its environment that make editing and debugging Python code more pleasant and productive than standard text editors. Because the IDE features are part of the PythonWin package, you can take advantage of them if you develop your GUI application using PythonWin or if you extend your existing C++ MFC application by embedding PythonWin. More detail on the PythonWin framework can be found in Chapter 20.

• IDLE is an IDE developed by Python author, Guido van Rossum. IDLE uses the Tkinter GUI framework and is portable to all Python platforms with Tkinter support. IDLE is a standalone IDE for Python; it doesn’t attempt to provide a GUI or application framework. IDLE would be particularly suitable if you develop your GUI applications using Tkinter or regularly use Python on operating systems other than Windows. Guido has kindly assisted in the section of this chapter devoted to IDLE.