This article will help you if you are confused about which platform to begin coding Python on as Python gives you a variety of options. We have compared two of the options.
Jupyter Notebook
Jupyter Notebook is basically a web application. Unlike IDEs (Integrated Development Environment), it uses the internet to run. And even after not being able to perform offline, it is highly preferred by most of the beginners because of its rich formatting and user-friendly interface. It allows us to enter the code in the browser and automatically highlights the syntax. It helps us know if we are indenting the code correctly with the help of colors and bold formatting. For example, if we write the print command outside the scope of a loop, it will change the color of the print keyword. Whitespace plays a very important role in Python because Python doesn’t involve the use of braces for enclosing the bodies of loops, methods, etc. A single indentation mistake can lead to an error. The results are displayed in different representations like HTML, PNG, LaTeX, SVG, PDF, etc.
Note: For more information, refer to How To Use Jupyter Notebook – An Ultimate Guide
Advantages :
- Rich media representations and text formatting ;
- No need of separate installation. It comes with Anaconda installation;
- Highly preferred by data scientists because of its mathematical proficiency (Charting, graphing, complex equations);
- A notebook created in Jupyter can be accessed (for editing) from any device using a web browser .
- It comes with a debugger.
- It automatically saves the changes made to a notebook as we code.
Disadvantages:
- Requires a server and a web browser, i.e., can not work offline like the other IDEs making it difficult to work on for people who don’t have access to a stable internet connection;
- Its installation takes more time than that taken by other IDEs;
- We can access it only from localhost by default. It requires us to follow some significant security steps to access it from any other server.
Installation : Refer to the below articles for proper guidelines on installation –
Python IDLE
Python IDLE is one of the IDEs used for Python programming. It automatically gets downloaded when we install Anaconda. IDLE stands for Integrated Development and Learning Environment.
You can access it by opening the command prompt and typing IDLE. It will give the IDLE as the result after opening it a Python shell is opened where you can begin coding. Shell is an interactive interpreter. It provides the output for each line of code immediately. Pressing the enter key not only changes the line but produces the immediate result of the line after which it is pressed. Unlike Jupyter Notebook, IDLE doesn’t allow us to write the complete code first and then compute the results. But if a user wants to check each line of his code as he types it, he will prefer Python IDLE over Jupyter Notebook.
So basically, it depends on the user. He may want to complete his code and then run it OR check every line simultaneously while writing the code. But if you are one of those who want a visually attractive application to code on, you must go with Jupyter Notebook.
Advantages:
- very simple and basic;
- runs without any server or browser;
- only requires Anaconda installation
- has an in-built debugger;
- can be customized according to the user’s preferences;
Disadvantages:
- A file created using Python IDLE cannot be accessed from a device other than the one in which it is created unless being copied into or sent to another device.
- Changes are not saved automatically as we code.
- It is not as advanced as its contemporaries.
Installation : Refer to the below article for proper guidelines on installation –
