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How to Make Vim a Python IDE - Best IDE for Python.

Hamdi Jr on December 09, 2020

Hello everyone, I'm back with another Linux tutorial. We are going to talk about something which is also my personal favorite - VIM. We are all fed...

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Nicolas Bailly • Dec 10 '20

I haven't tested your setup but it looks more like a nice editor than an IDE (as in "Integrated Development Environment", as in you have all the tools you need to write, test and compile your project). In my opinion here's what you should add to have a true IDE :

The ability to run tests and get the results from the IDE
The ability to run tests automatically when you change something
The ability to place breakpoints and run the debugger from the IDE
Git/SVN integration that shows you which lines were changed/added/removed in the gutter, can quickly "git blame" the line you're editing, and of course commit/push from the IDE.
An SQL and NoSQL client that integrates with your code (by completing table / column names when you type them in your code for eg.)
An HTTP Client to test your APIs right from the IDE.
Refactoring features : if you change the name of a variable/function, will it change all the calls automatically ? If you rename a file will it change the rest of your code automatically ? Can you extract a part of code to a new function ? Move some methods to a new class ?

Krisztian Papp • Dec 16 '20

vim-test plugin
simple autocommand
vim-vebugger or vimspector
vim-fugitive for commands and vim-signify for gutter.
vim-dadbod and vim-dadbod-ui and vim-sql-suggest
thats what automated tests for but if you really want it then vim-http plugin
that is where it lacks some features, even with coc.nvim, extract features are limited.

Hamdi Jr • Dec 16 '20

Thank you for your suggestions.

Nicolas Bailly • Dec 16 '20

Great suggestions, thanks !

Daan De Lombaert • Dec 20 '20

By the time you've installed and configured all that, you could've just installed PyCharm and be done with it..

Also the more plugins you install, the slower it'll get.

Krisztian Papp • Dec 20 '20

And I'd have an IDE which also has a bunch of plugins in order to operate, generally slow and requires a bunch of resources, less configurable, and works for python mostly. Also this configuration is like sharpening an axe. In order to excel in PyCharm you also need to memorize/customize keybindings, etc. The only difference is Vim just requires some of that work upfront.

Hamdi Jr • Dec 10 '20

Thank you for your response. I will try to add these features and write another blog soon.

Krisztian Papp • Dec 16 '20

First of all, Vim is anything but easy to learn. That's why the internet is filled with memes about it's steep learning curve. Also, why do you use nano for editing the .vimrc file in a VIM tutorial? And why do you need sudo for that?

Hamdi Jr • Dec 16 '20

I used nano because it's beginner-friendly and adding sudo won't cause any errors too.

Krisztian Papp • Dec 16 '20

Yeah, nano is beginner friendly and in any other tutorials I get it why people are using it. But this one is a VIM tutorial :) You could've shown how to copy paste in vim, how to exit it and so much. And your argument "won't cause any errors too" still not justifies the using of sudo.