Thonny: the best Python IDE for beginners in programming
What is Thonny?
Thonny is a Python IDE designed for beginners. It is written in Python and designed for the Python programming language. It provides an easy-to-use interface and a variety of features such as syntax highlighting, code completion, and debugging tools to help users write and test Python code. In this post you will see why Thonny is a good tool for beginner Python programmers.
Thonny comes with Python 3.10 built in, so just one simple installer is needed and you’re ready to learn programming.
https://thonny.org/
Who developed Thonny and why?
Thonny IDE was developed by Aivar Annamaa, a researcher at Tallinn University of Technology in Estonia. Thonny was developed to provide an easy-to-use and beginner-friendly environment for teaching and learning Python programming, particularly for students and educators who are new to programming. The goal of Thonny is to make it simple and straightforward for beginners to start writing and running Python code without getting bogged down by the complexity of other IDEs.
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what are some features of Thonny?
Thonny IDE has many features that make it a great choice for beginners. Some of the key features include:
- Simple and easy-to-use interface: Thonny has a user-friendly interface that is easy to navigate and understand, even for those new to programming.
- Syntax highlighting: Thonny highlights the syntax of Python code, making it easier to read and understand.
- Code completion: Thonny provides suggestions for completing code as you type, making it faster and easier to write code.
- Debugging tools: Thonny provides a variety of debugging tools, such as a step-by-step code execution and variable inspection, to help users find and fix errors in their code.
- Interactive shell: Thonny IDE has an interactive shell that allows users to test code snippets and get immediate feedback.
- Plug-in support: The IDE can be extended with Plug-ins, this makes it easy to add extra functionality.
- Cross-platform compatibility: Thonny is available for Windows, MacOS, and Linux, making it accessible to a wide range of users.
Ideal User of Thonny
The ideal user of Thonny IDE is someone who is new to Python or programming in general, or someone who wants to teach or learn Python in an interactive and visual way. Thonny is designed to help beginners understand the basic concepts and syntax of Python, and to provide them with a friendly and intuitive environment to write and run their first programs.
If you are an experienced or professional Python developer, or if you want to work on complex or large-scale projects, Thonny may not be the best choice for you. You may find Thonny too simple or limited for your needs, and you may prefer other IDEs that offer more features and functionality.
Conclusion
Thonny is a great IDE for beginners and educators who want to learn or teach Python in a simple and visual way. It has a user-friendly interface, a built-in debugger, and a code editor that supports syntax highlighting, auto-completion, and code formatting. It also makes learning Python easy and fun by providing a step-by-step execution mode and a variable explorer. However, Thonny is not very suitable for advanced or professional Python development.
If you are looking for an IDE that offers more features and functionality for Python development, you may want to check out other IDEs such as PyCharm, Visual Studio Code, Spyder, etc.