Editors and IDEs

Why three different tools?¶

Each of these editors excels in different scenarios:

• VSCode: A versatile, lightweight editor that works well for general programming and multi-language projects. Highly extensible with a vast ecosystem of plugins.

• Jupyter Lab: Ideal for creating interactive notebooks that combine code, visualizations, and documentation. Perfect for exploratory analysis, teaching, and sharing reproducible research.

• Spyder (not mandatory for the training): A Python-focused IDE designed specifically for scientific computing. Excellent for interactive data exploration, debugging, and working with variables in memory.

For training participants: We recommend installing at least VSCode and Jupyter Lab before the training. Each session will use the tool best suited to the task at hand, helping you learn when to use each one. This hands-on experience will help you choose your preferred workflow afterward.

For general users: If you’re already comfortable with one of these editors and aren’t attending our training, you don’t need to install the others. Stick with what works for you. However, if you’re curious about different workflows or want to expand your toolkit, installing multiple editors lets you choose the right tool for each project.

VSCode or VSCodium¶

VSCode is a general-purpose, lightweight editor that has become popular among Python developers due to its excellent extension ecosystem.

Jupyter Lab¶

Jupyter Lab provides an interactive notebook environment where you can combine code, visualizations, and rich text documentation. It’s particularly useful for exploratory data analysis, creating tutorials, and sharing reproducible research.

We recommend installing Jupyter using Pixi, which ensures all scientific Python dependencies are properly managed:

pixi global install --environment jupyter-ipython `
  --expose ipython --expose jupyter --expose jupyter-labextension --expose jupyter-lab --expose jupytext `
  jupyter numpy pandas matplotlib ipython `
  ipympl jupyterlab-myst jupyterlab-spellchecker jupytext

pixi global install --environment jupyter-ipython \
  --expose ipython --expose jupyter --expose jupyter-labextension --expose jupyter-lab --expose jupytext \
  jupyter numpy pandas matplotlib ipython \
  ipympl jupyterlab-myst jupyterlab-spellchecker jupytext

This installation provides several useful commands:

• ipython: Enhanced interactive Python shell

• jupyter-lab: Launch Jupyter Lab

• jupytext: Convert between notebooks and scripts

Spyder¶

(not mandatory for the training)

Spyder is specialized for Python and particularly well-suited for scientific programming with features like an integrated variable explorer, interactive console, and debugging tools.

To install Spyder, we recommand using the Standalone installers (open this link in a new tab).