Mention about installing code editor

[olasitarska]

@DjangoGirls/coaches what code editor should we use? I'm thinking about something simple & powerful, like Sublime Text or Atom?

[allanw]

I vote for Sublime Text. I agree that something simple and powerful is the best option.

It could be worth briefly mentioning that other options are available, and if people want to try an IDE in their spare time, I'd suggest the free community version of PyCharm.

[lukaszb]

Agree.

Sublime is fine but we would need to include "how to configure it to make build command (CMD+B/CTRL+B) to run python3 instead of Python2 (only if Python2 was previously installed which is true for OSX and Linux too I guess). See http://stackoverflow.com/questions/12342004/trouble-setting-python-version-in-sublime-text2/12342473#12342473

On the other hand, Sublime is commercial so we would need to explain they can use it but have to ignore those popups. Atom might be good alternative here but requires more configuration (have to install atom-runner plugin; Python3 issue requires similar configuration as the one for Sublime: https://atom.io/packages/atom-runner).

[arachnegl]

+1 for atom just because it is open source.

I haven't used either so don't have a strong opinion.

On Thu, Jul 3, 2014 at 11:58 AM, Lukasz Balcerzak notifications@github.com wrote:

Agree.

Sublime is fine but we would need to include "how to configure it to make build command (CMD+B/CTRL+B) to run python3 instead of Python2 (only if Python2 was previously installed which is true for OSX and Linux too I guess). See http://stackoverflow.com/questions/12342004/trouble-setting-python-version-in-sublime-text2/12342473#12342473

On the other hand, Sublime is commercial so we would need to explain they can use it but have to ignore those popups. Atom might be good alternative here but requires more configuration (have to install atom-runner plugin; Python3 issue requires similar configuration as the one for Sublime: https://atom.io/packages/atom-runner).

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/DjangoGirls/tutorial/issues/3#issuecomment-47892757.

[lukaszb]

I would go with atom too but prebuilt binaries are available for OSX only (https://atom.io/faq). So +1 for sublime (as I understand we don't want girls to build atom from source...)

[keimlink]

Gedit is also an option. It's available for all major operating systems and it's Open Source. It can be configured to work better with Python, like using four spaces instead of a tab. IIRC @alex started with Gedit (or is still using it).

I use Sublime Text, but I also bought a license. And if we tell the participants to use ST they have to buy a license sooner or later as well.

[bmispelon]

For what it's worth, I also use Gedit myself (it's a pretty vanilla install with just a few standard plugins).

I think the most important aspect is to use a text editor you're comfortable in. As long as you can sort out the tabs vs space issue for your specific editor, I don't think it matters too much which one you're using.

[keimlink]

I agree with @bmispelon. I tell the participants of my Django trainings always the same @bmispelon said: As long as you can work with the editor you are already using everything is fine!

If they have problems with their editor or want to try something new I always recommend Gedit.

[lukaszb]

@bmispelon agree but for someone who's gonna use text editor coding for (probably) first time it is important to be guided. Simply saying "use whatever you want" won't help such person in any way. In my view opinions from couches here matters and having group of people using same editor would be beneficial (we can solve lesser issues). For the same reason we are not going to tell them "write a blog app in whatever language/framework you are feeling comfortable with".

Unless I'm missing a point and most of attendees would have some programming experience (@olasitarska can you clarify? I thought attendees would have little to no coding skills).

[bmispelon]

@lukaszb You're right: if the attendees don't have a favorite text editor yet, we should definitely have a recommendation ready.

Having the same editor within a group might be useful but I don't know how feasible it will be in practice.

[olasitarska]

@lukaszb yes, most (if not all) of the attendees will have no experience in coding. Some may did some HTML & CSS before (but basic).

I think it's important to tell them what is the best for them at this point, especially if they don't have a chosen editor already (I think the chance that they have is super small). We are trying to get them the best setup possible from the very beginning (like virtualenv, postgres, etc) so they won't get too frustrated in a later phase :)

[arachnegl]

From the options put forwards, I see gedit as a good candidate: cross platform, free, open source, simple. After that people can choose their own.

Why are we using postgres rather than sqlite? PG can introduce off topic probs that Sqlite won't.

On Thu, Jul 3, 2014 at 1:54 PM, Ola Sitarska notifications@github.com wrote:

@lukaszb https://github.com/lukaszb yes, most (if not all) of the attendees will have no experience in coding. Some may did some HTML & CSS before (but basic).

I think it's important to tell them what is the best for them at this point, especially if they don't have a chosen editor already (I think the chance that they have is super small). We are trying to get them the best setup possible from the very beginning (like virtualenv, postgres, etc) so they won't get too frustrated in a later phase :)

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/DjangoGirls/tutorial/issues/3#issuecomment-47925463.

[lenarother]

+1 for Sublime. I've asked 3 students new to Python and Sublime, they all liked Sublime and recommended using it. Though, I think we should be careful with all the 'cool features' so it's not too much new knowledge.

[olasitarska]

@arachnegl we started with sqlite (it still needs to be changed somewhere to postgres), but if you want to deploy it somewhere, postgres is the way to go I think. We used Heroku for deployment and they require Postgres afaik.

[keimlink]

Of course do people like Sublime Text. As I already wrote I bought a license for me and my developers. But I'm very careful with recommending commercial products in a training, especially if it's an open event. Because if you recommend Sublime Text why not also mention PyCharm? It's a great IDE and has some unique features. And there is a free version too. It won't be hard to find more editors to promote. I know that Wingware is giving away WingIDE discounts for participants of trainings and conferences.

If we recommend Gedit there is no problem with giving preference to an editor because it's an Open Source project and nobody profits.

The deployment chapter is already giving preference to Heroku and there are a lot of other hosting companies available. But that's ok and I don't have a quick alternative. But I would be happy if we could avoid to do the same with the editor.

[lukaszb]

@keimlink imo PyCharm is too bloated for needs of the course (I believe that what we actually needs is something that can show directory structure, have syntax highlight and optionally can run scripts; PyCharm on the other hand, however wonderful it is, have tons of features we won't actually want to explain during the course). AD. heroku - afaik it was picked because the experience with deployment is most straightforward. I'm not aware of any easier hosting provider that's as rock solid. It has also big community and it's easy to google up solutions for common problems. If anyone knows a better platform I believe we have still time for changes. But that's for totally different topic.

Back to the main issue: unfortunately this can easily become standard "my editor recommendation is better" thread. Let's organisers decide what would be best unless there are really strong arguments to do otherwise.

[olasitarska]

Thanks everyone, we will discuss it today with @asendecka

[olasitarska]

Ok, so we've decided to include all recommendations (Gedit, Atom, Sublime) and you should recommend to your group whatever works for you best. It'll be easier to teach them if you alredy know the editor and not all the groups have to use the same one. (but everyone in the group should use the same one unless someone already has an editor they know well).