Introduction & Course Overview

Finding the Perfect Python Code Editor Martin Breuss 01:29

Find your perfect Python development setup with this review of Python IDEs and code editors. Writing Python using IDLE or the Python REPL is great for simple things, but not ideal for larger programming projects. With this course you’ll get an overview of the most common Python coding environments to help you make an informed decision.

By the end of this course, you’ll know how to:

Choose the Python editing environment that’s right for you
Perform common tasks like creating, running, and debugging code
Dig deeper into optimizing your favorite editing setup

Download

Course Slides (.pdf)

587.5 KB

00:00 Hello there, and welcome to this video course about Python IDEs and editors. This is going to be a guide for you to figure out what is the right tool for the task that you’re currently working on. My name is Martin, and this is a Real Python tutorial, and let’s go get started!

00:18 First of all, I want to tell you what we’re going to talk about in this intro section, and I want to give you a quick overview of “What is an IDE?” and “What is a code editor?” What’s the difference between those two?

00:31 We’ll talk about that a little bit, then move on to take a look at what makes up a good Python editor in the first place. What do we want from a code editor or an IDE so that we can say it’s a useful tool? And then, later, we’re going to get into some specifics.

00:46 We’re going to talk about VIM, Thonny, Repl.it, VS Code, PyCharm, and Jupyter Notebooks. I’ve selected all of those because they give us different aspects of code editors and IDEs that have different use cases. And a main point for you—what you can take away from this course—is that you know that there’s a lot of those different tools out there, but maybe there’s a couple of categories of tools that are different from each other, and there’s a certain tool that fits better to use if you have a specific task that you want to be working on.

01:19 So, that will be my aim in this course. I hope you’re going to enjoy it, and see you in the next video, where we’re going to talk about IDEs and code editors.

neilson on Feb. 18, 2020

What, no emacs?

Martin Breuss RP Team on Feb. 19, 2020

@neilson I aimed to present different types of code editors, with only one example each. There are so many great tools out there and everyone has their own personal preferences. That’s why this course only wants to present information on what types of editors exist, and what are good use cases for those different types of editors.

I personally don’t have experience working with emacs. Would you say it represents a different type of editor, and if so, why is that and what are its use cases? Happy to hear your opinion on it :)

Rolf S on Feb. 27, 2026

Hi, I had a peek at the attached tutorial article and decided not to waste 2h 38 minutes of time time due to the fact that it’s 8 years old!

This doesn’t say much for Dan’s comment, “We plan to support this article for a long time, to expand on it, and to turn it into an even more useful resource for Pythonistas as we go along.”

Martin Breuss RP Team on Feb. 27, 2026

Hi @Rolf S, you’re right that the tutorial is ripe for an update, it’s actually in the pipeline at the moment (high time, as you correctly point out).

I’ve recorded the video course more recently, but it’s also showing its age at this point, especially because there were a lot of changes that happened to code editors over the past ~18 months.

Still, I took a different approach in the course and intentionally focused on different types of editors. I treat the specific editors I’m showing just as examples of a type.

The course should serve as a guide to show you what types of editors are out there, and help you choose between those types for your use case(s). Specific editors have changed their UI since recording (and repl.it has changed their business model entirely…), but the information about editor types is still valid.

If you have 10 minutes, I’d suggest to watch over the first section “Introduction and Learning Goals”, then decide whether that approach and info might be helpful for you.

What’s definitely missing here from a 2026 perspective, are AI-assisted Coding Environments such as Cursor, Claude Code or Gemini CLI. This new type will be a part of the updates, both to the tutorial and the course. In the meantime if you’re interested, check out the dedicated resources we have on these tools.

Become a Member to join the conversation.