My Favourite Tool: IPython
This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.
My favorite tool is … IPython.
IPython is a Python interpreter with added features that make it an invaluable tool for interactive coding and data exploration. IPython is most commonly taught via the Jupyter notebook, an interactive web-based tool for evaluating code, but IPython can be used on its own directly in the terminal as a replacement for the standard Python interpreter.
Why I like it
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You can run Unix commands directly in IPython. For instance, if you want to load a file from another directory, it is convenient to
cd
into the directory from within the IPython window. -
IPython has an extensive tab autocomplete for function names, function arguments, file paths, and object names.
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It comes equipped with “magic” commands: functions that assist in programming and that can be called with a single word starting with
%
.%paste
takes whatever is on your clipboard and formats it nicely so IPython can read it – useful for pasting in large blocks of code.%timeit
runs time tests and%lprun
runs line profiling automatically. -
The interpreter saves your command history across sessions. In case you close the window before you’re done, you can fire IPython back up and search through the history.
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IPython makes it easy to test my code interactively, piece by piece.
– Kellie Ottoboni, PhD Candidate in Statistics, Berkeley
Have a favorite tool of your own? Please tell us about it!
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