Wing Python IDE Review 2024:
You can write or edit your Python code using a code editor, an option that is usually lightweight and great for learning. But after you are done with the basics and your program grows into something larger, you will need to debug and test your code, and for that you will find an IDE (Integrated Development Environment) more useful.
A text editor pales in comparison to an IDE when it comes to understanding your code. This is because IDEs come equipped with special features like debugging, testing, code analysis and linting, and build automation. These can prove to be a great asset for your program with the only downside of it being sometimes a little complicated to learn.
Now that you know the importance and difference between working on a text editor and a specialized IDE, we are going to discuss one of the best Python IDEs on the market. One that provides a lot more features and is worth quite a bit more than its price point.
Wing Python IDE:
Wing Python IDE is a fully featured but lightweight IDE designed for the sole purpose of working with Python. It comes with exceptional debugging capabilities, testing, code inspection, and powerful editing support. You can speed up your Python development by getting auto-editing and auto-completion through deep code analysis provided by Wing. Any local or remote host running Python can be easily dealt with by Wing Python IDE. It also supports layout and UI color customization, version control, and test-driven development. You can also get extra support and documentation from it.
Wing IDE is the perfect companion for all software developers that use Python as their primary development language, or for scripting, automation, testing, data analysis, product development, and prototyping, among many others.
In a nutshell Wing Python IDE solves a lot of your problems with the wide variety of features that it provides. Using it can save a lot of your time and increases your productivity and efficiency.
Key Features of Wing Python IDE:
1- Intelligent Editor:
Python coding becomes easy and fast with the intelligent editor from Wing. Smart error checking throughout the editing process and appropriate assistance can be provided through its powerful runtime and static code analysis.
The editor in Wing makes the process of using customizable code snippets, multi-selection, code folding, refactoring, auto-editing, invocation assistance, PEP 8 enforcement, code quality analysis, inline error detection, and much more extremely efficient and seamless. It can also emulate MATLAB, XCode, Visual Studio, Eclipse, Emacs, and vi.
Some basic but important features from the editor are
- All the Basics of a Solid Code Editor
- Auto-completion and Code Intelligence
- Analysis of Code Quality and Detection of Errors
- Automatic Editing
- Refactoring
- Multiple Selection
- Snippets of Codes
- And Much More
2- Powerful Debugger:
The Debugger of Wing Python IDE not only fixes bugs after isolating them but also supports you in the development of a new code by enabling efficient interactive development. The debug tool works flawlessly with all kinds of Python code, no matter if they are executed on a remote host, invoked as a script in an embedded copy of Python, run by a web framework or server, or launched from the IDE.
You can make use of conditional breakpoints to solve your problems by first isolating them, then stepping through the code, using all-around inspection of data, and working with the command line debug console to fix the problem. You can also use the debug console to debug recursively and watch values.
Some important features of the debugger are:
- All the Basics of a Solid Debugger
- Conditional Breakpoints
- Debugging Command Line
- Shift-Space to Display an Overlay of all Debug Data
- Viewer for Data Frames and Arrays
- Move Program Counter
- Interactive Development
- Recursive Debugging
- Threaded and Multi-Process Debugging
- Remote Debugging
- And Much More
3- Easiest Navigation of Code:
With Wing Python IDE understanding and navigating Python code become very easy because it utilizes both runtime and static analysis to its best advantage. It will not be difficult for you even if it’s a little complex or unfamiliar for you at first.
Wing makes it really easy for the user to move around their code with a mighty multi-file search, keyboard-driven search, class and module browser, editor symbol index, find symbol in the project, find uses, and go to definition. All of your visit histories are stored automatically so that you can instantly return to any code that you have visited previously. You can also track code changes by defining and traversing categorized bookmarks.
Some important features of the Code Navigation are:
- Find Symbols and Go to definition
- Locate your Point of Use
- Browse the Source Code by Structure
- Bookmark your Code
- Mighty Features for Searching
- And Much More
4- Integrated Unit Testing:
You can do all of your unit testings through the integrated test frameworks of Django, nose, doctest, pytest, and unit test. The Testing tool in Wing makes interactive test-driven development a snap by being completely integrated with the debugger. You can easily fix all of your failed tests with the diagnostic features provided by the powerful debugger. You can also use the runtime context to interactively set up and write new unit tests.
Some important features of the Integrated Unit Testing are:
- Unit Test Management
- Unit Test Debugging
- Flexible Test Invocation
- And Much More
5- Remote Development:
With Wing’s easy-to-configure remote development, you can securely and seamlessly use all of its features by running your Python code on a container, remote host, or virtual machine. Remote development works with remote hosts running ARM Linux, Intel Linux, or OS X. WSL, Docker, and Vagrant containers are also supported by it.
Some important features of Remote Development are:
- Easy Access to Remote Hosts
- Flexible Management of the Project
- Remote Debugging
- And Much More
6- Extensible and Customizable:
You can completely customize your experience in Wing with its configurable functionality and display, and you can also write Python code to extend its features. It offers more than a hundred options for configuring your UI layout, syntax coloring, display themes, editor emulations, and much more.
You can also use perspectives to manage all UI configurations related to particular tasks such as debugging or testing, switch between light and dark mode, and magnify your interface for meetings and presentations. You can write Python code to add more IDE features that call down to Wing’s Scripting API. These can be developed and debugged with Wing itself.
Some important features for Extension and Customization are:
- Configurable Color and Interface Layout
- Functionality Customization
- Switch Tasks with Perspectives
- Extend Wing with Python
- And Much More
7- Many Other Features:
Wing Pro provides some additional useful features and extensive documentation to Python developers. Intel Linux, OS X, and Windows are included in the supported operating systems. For remote development, ARM or Intel Linux devices, and Raspberry Pi can be used as well.
It also supports revision control and project management with Git, Mercurial, Perforce, Subversion, CVS, and Bazaar. Other important features of Wing Pro include executing OS command lines, indentation style conversion, and a merge/difference tool.
Some important other features include:
- Version Control
- Project Management
- Pylint, Pep8, and Mypy Integration
Pros
- The support team is extremely responsive
- It provides remote and local debugging through a built-in debugger
- Uses multiple layers of static analysis to detect any errors present in the source code
- Performance-oriented
- Keystroke shortcuts that are completely programmable
- Threaded debugging
- Worth more than its actual price
- You can customize your plug-ins if need be
- Editing modes for Emacs, VI, and other commonly used key bindings
- Multi-process, remote, recursive advanced debugging
- Highly flexible macro capabilities
Cons
- Limited support for other languages in case you develop in JavaScript, TypeScript or other non-Python languages
- High starting price (US $69)
Type of Subscriptions:
There are three types of subscription plans when it comes to Wing Pro.
1- Commercial Use:
This license is for privately funded organizations, governments, companies, and professional developers who need a time-saving IDE for Python. Commercial licenses are available both as lower-cost annual licenses or perpetual non-expiring licenses for a particular major version of Wing Pro.
2- Non-Commercial:
This license may be used by start-ups that are less than three years old, publicly funded non-profit organizations, hobbyists, and schools that need a time-saving IDE for Python. Non-commercial licenses are also available both as annual licenses or non-expiring perpetual licenses.
3- Special Offers:
Wing Pro licenses may be obtained for free for course work and teaching, unpaid open-source development, and developers who organize or help run Python users’ groups and conferences. Discounts are available for recent graduates, competitive upgrades from other Python IDE products, and start-up companies.
Wing Python IDE Details:
- Website: wingware.com
- CEO: Stephan R.A. Deibel
- Founded:1999
- Location: USA
- Specialty: Python Programming language
- Yearly starting price: $69
- uCompares rating: 4.9/5
Conclusion:
After reading this review you should have a better understanding of what Wing Python IDE has to offer. It is capable and highly customizable software with useful built-in features and a highly responsive technical support team. Features like checking for errors in Python source code, threaded debugging, multi-process debugging, remote debugging, unit testing, and interactive development are all things whose worth is far more than their price point.
The IDE will help you make more efficient decisions that are good for you and your Python source base. We recommend you to at least give the free trial a shot and then see how it goes. From our experience and the customer reviews that we have analyzed everyone seems to be more than happy with what they have received at this price point.
We hope that our review has made it easier for you to decide which Python IDE to select. We have tried our best to bring all the necessary information to you related to Wing Python IDE. Our team wishes you the best of luck!
