Welcome to Hands-On Application Development with PyCharm, and congratulations on taking the first step in exploring the powerful and dynamic functionalities that the most popular Python IDE, PyCharm, provides. Throughout this book, we will be familiarizing ourselves with the general interface of PyCharm, various customizations of PyCharm's functionalities to best support different types of projects, and options to integrate additional features into a base Python project.
This chapter first talks about the specifics of IDEs in programming and an overview of what PyCharm is and what its general options provide. We will then discuss the usage of PyCharm among the Python community and outline several reasons for PyCharm's popularity in the community. This discussion will help us focus on why PyCharm is such a great tool for Python programmers.
We will also be making comprehensive comparisons between PyCharm and other popular Python editors/IDEs, as well as between the paid Professional Edition and the free Community Edition of PyCharm. Any Python programmer is undoubtedly familiar with a number of different Python development tools, so these comparisons will offer a way for you to decide which edition of PyCharm is the right tool for you.
The following topics will be covered in this chapter:
- The purpose of PyCharm as a Python IDE and some notable details on its developing company, JetBrains
- The usage of PyCharm within the community and a breakdown of which professions tend to utilize PyCharm the most
- A comprehensive outline regarding the advantages and disadvantages of using PyCharm, in comparison to other Python editors/IDEs
- The differences between the Professional and the Community editions of PyCharm and the additional functionalities that the paid edition offers
On the other hand, if you have already decided that PyCharm is the Python IDE for you, feel free to jump to Chapter 2, Installing and Configuring PyCharm, to go through the installation and registration process. If you have already downloaded and successfully set up PyCharm on your system, you might want to begin at the second section of the book, starting from Chapter 3, Customizing Interpreters and Virtual Environments.