Fast/interactive development environment for python

Question

I just posted a question here why python imports take as long as they do. Are there environments that don't require reinitializing modules? If so, what are they?

Details: I'm trying to learn basic python syntax while using extended libraries (matplotlib, mayavi), and each time I test my code I wait (several!!) seconds for the modules to load. There must be a faster way to do this, but I don't know what environments are well suited. Suggestions?

• demented hedgehog: Sounds like your setup is broken to me. Look at this to see what it's doing stackoverflow.com/questions/7332299/trace-python-imports. Also maybe check the problem is with the imports using the timeit module? And for completeness there's a builtin profiler as well. stackoverflow.com/questions/582336/…
• anon01: @dementedhedgehog the answer to the question I reference suggests that some modules just take a long time to load. I did a bit of profiling, and that seemed reasonable

Answer 1

Take a look at ipython and pandas they might be closer to what you want. Python does have a reload for modules but I'm not sure how well it works so anything that keeps a single python instance running and doesn't spawn python child processes is likely to fit the bill (sorry not sure what's available in that area).

http://ipython.org/

http://pandas.pydata.org/

• anon01: Ipython seems pretty good! I like using both an editor and interactive session in tandem (debug, record respectively), but I think once I figure out a new workflow this will be fast for development. Thanks!
• demented hedgehog: Excellent. Take a look here for editor config ipython.org/ipython-doc/1/config/editors.html for some thoughts on editor/ipython interaction.

Answer 2

Any environment with client/server architecture (short-lived cli/gui/web-clients, long-lived computational kernels) such as https://jupyter.org/ will do.