Question

what editor is the professor using? Which editors out there do you guys favor, and why?

tks

Answer 1

I like vim, specifically MacVim. Vim is based on the idea that you spent just as much (if not more) time editing code as you do writing code. And the assumption is that using the mouse is slow, so Vim provides a bunch of ways to manipulate text using the keys. It has two modes Visual Mode (used to manipulate text) and Insert Mode (used to insert text).

However, because of that there is a bit of a learning curve. It takes a good month before you start to feel comfortable using it, but it's so worth it. And there's always more to learn.

In the end, I'll use anything with syntax highlighting. I hate bloated IDEs like Eclipse. I prefer the "get out of my way" type of text editors.

Answer 2

Don't know about the professor though, heh.

Answer 3

hey Matt, thanks for the reply. I've used VIM but it seems that VIM does not color highlight the codes automatically or I'm doing something wrong?

Answer 4

I've also tried ERIC, Eclipse, and EMACS but all without highlighting or color differentiating

Answer 5

I don't think it does by default. My MacVim does it though and I'm sure most custom "flavors" do as well.

To customize vim, you're supposed to edit your .vimrc file which can set a lot of customizations. I'm a bit of a newb there though because someone else set mine up real nice for me, heh. I do have these two lines though, which look related:

colorscheme vividchalk
syntax enable

Answer 6

Here is how to do it in app, or like my .vimrc:
http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/turn-on-or-off-color-syntax-highlighting-in-vi-or-vim/

Answer 7

Haven't used Emacs, but I know that is the big war between coders: vim vs emacs. We all hate Eclipse though, I feel.

Answer 8

ahhhh, cool, I'll be sure to check it out. I'm running Ubuntu(Linux) so my UI is linear and simple but I'll definitely look into it

Answer 9

Yea, Eclipse seems a bit too much for me, at least this stage of learning
I couldn't even figure out how to start coding without reading the tutorial...

Answer 10

anyhow, thanks for the info~~~ Appreciate it :)

Answer 11

Yea, the "Linux way" (I think) is to run most things Eclipse provides from the command line (like compilation). So I enjoy my text editor not trying to do those things.

Answer 12

I believe the professor is using IDLE which comes along with the MacPython install.

Answer 13

Although I like Vim as well.. especially since its also available for the iPad

Answer 14

Hi Adam, so I suppose Linux Python doesn't come with it? Because I'm accessing Python directly from the Unix terminal. Any idea?

Answer 15

I've got VIM on ipad as well, but can't get pass the first screen where it shows a simple instruction on help etc. regardless of what I input or type...

Answer 16

ahhh~~~nvm found IDLE, had to do an apt-get to install it. Thanks for the note Adam

Answer 17

I use emacs. It works (including interactive) for Python, Perl, gnuplot, maxima, R.
It's cool

Answer 18

Nano/Pico are decent editors and Gedit has a ton of plugins that really lets you customize the environment but takes a while to setup and configure. For windows I use notepad++.