Microsoft Visual Studio Code vs. Python IDLE

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Microsoft Visual Studio Code
Score 9.1 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft offers Visual Studio Code, a text editor that supports code editing, debugging, IntelliSense syntax highlighting, and other features.
$0
Python IDLE
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
Python's IDLE is the integrated development environment (IDE) and learning platform for Python, presented as a basic and simple IDE appropriate for learners in educational settings.
$0
Pricing
Microsoft Visual Studio CodePython IDLE
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Microsoft Visual Studio CodePython IDLE
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Microsoft Visual Studio CodePython IDLE
Top Pros
Top Cons
Best Alternatives
Microsoft Visual Studio CodePython IDLE
Small Businesses
BBEdit
BBEdit
Score 8.2 out of 10
PyCharm
PyCharm
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Vim
Vim
Score 9.7 out of 10
PyCharm
PyCharm
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Vim
Vim
Score 9.7 out of 10
PyCharm
PyCharm
Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Microsoft Visual Studio CodePython IDLE
Likelihood to Recommend
8.7
(89 ratings)
2.0
(6 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.4
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
10.0
(5 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
9.7
(24 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Microsoft Visual Studio CodePython IDLE
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft
Microsoft Visual Studio Code is highly recommended for the development of systems and / or complex applications entrusted to work teams under a specific methodology, and its use is also recommended for the maintenance of previously developed applications.
It is not recommended as a learning environment for developers with little experience as the learning curve would be too high
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Python Software Foundation
IDLE is a good option to run small scripts directly on the console, and that's it. It is a good exit when you don't want or need to open a proper IDE like Pycharm.
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Pros
Microsoft
  • Very accessible -- it's compatible with all platforms and environments, free to install, and fast to open
  • Strong native support for many languages, and very strong extensibility to provide advanced language features
  • Git integration is top-notch, often displaying a better history, diff, and merge interface that is otherwise available in version control systems
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Python Software Foundation
  • Firstly, I would say Python IDLE interface is user friendly.
  • Easy to learn for the beginners.
  • Syntax highlighting is nice features.
  • Smart indent helps a lot.
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Cons
Microsoft
  • Lack of button bar like ones found in Visual Studio.
  • Lack of integrated help that could link to YouTube, Channel 9, or other Microsoft videos on how to learn about features.
  • Integration with Team Foundation Server.
  • Would like to see it having some sort of integration into a Web API testing harness.
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Python Software Foundation
  • Too simplistic
  • Could not find source revision management integration support
  • Only basic debugging is available
  • Does not have data-science-specific notebooks (but can be installed separately)
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Likelihood to Renew
Microsoft
Solid tool that provides everything you need to develop most types of applications. The only reason not a 10 is that if you are doing large distributed teams on Enterprise level, Professional does provide more tools to support that and would be worth the cost.
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Python Software Foundation
No answers on this topic
Usability
Microsoft
This is a tool for programmers and it works like many others. If you are in the development world already then you will be sailing in no time with Microsoft Visual Studio Code. It is also great for new developers and it is very easy to use and you can get all the tools you need in one place as you begin to learn.
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Python Software Foundation
The IDE Python IDLE is a good place to start as it helps you become familiar with the way Python works and understand its syntax.
This IDE allows you to configure the environment, font, size, colors, .....
It also looks like any simple text editor for any operating system, I work with Windows or Linux interchangeably, and you don't have to learn to use the IDE before programming.
Once the IDE is executed you can start programming directly in it.
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Support Rating
Microsoft
Active development means filing a bug on the GitHub repo typically gets you a response within 4 days. There are plugins for almost everything you need, whether it be linting, Vim emulation, even language servers (which I use to code in Scala). There is well-maintained official documentation. The only thing missing is forums. The closest thing is GitHub issues, which typically has the answers but is hard to sift through -- there are currently 78k issues.
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Python Software Foundation
Python IDLE support is what the community can give you. As it is free software, it does not have support provided by the manufacturer or by third-parties.
In any case, for most of the problems that normal users can find, the solution, or alternatives, can be found quickly online.
As this IDE is made in Python, the support is the same group of Python developers.
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Alternatives Considered
Microsoft
[Microsoft] Visual Studio Code beats the competition due to its extensibility. Their robust extensions architecture combined with the plethora of mostly free extensions written by the community can't be beaten. The fact that this tool itself is provided by a world-recognized company, Microsoft, free of charge is phenomenal. The goodwill garnered by them is immeasurable. Other tools I've used were missing features or were just too rigid, too complicated, or too unsophisticated for my liking. The fact that VS Code is easy to mold to my will with the right extensions seals the deal.
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Python Software Foundation
It's easy to set up and run quick analysis in Python IDLE on my local machine. The output is direct and easy to read. But sometimes I prefer Jupyter Notebook when the datasets are large, since it would take too long to run on my local machine. It is easier to run Jupyter Notebook on my cloud desktop
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Return on Investment
Microsoft
  • Positive impact on minimizing time wasted by employees with software installation and setup
  • Positive impact on reducing spend on software licensing
  • Positive impact on minimizing time used to manage different applications for different purposes - this performs all of the functions we need in basic coding
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Python Software Foundation
  • In a short time, we were able to develop several ML models for various teams to make accurate decisions.
  • Beginners can easily understand and adapt to GUI.
  • We could automate several manual validation tasks and so could reduce human intervention.
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ScreenShots