IDLE explained

IDLE
IDLE
Author:	Guido van Rossum
Programming Language:	Python
Genre:	Integrated development environment

IDLE (short for Integrated Development and Learning Environment)^{[1] [2]} is an integrated development environment for Python, which has been bundled with the default implementation of the language since 1.5.2b1.^{[3] [4]} It is packaged as an optional part of the Python packaging with many Linux distributions. It is completely written in Python and the Tkinter GUI toolkit (wrapper functions for Tcl/Tk).

IDLE is intended to be a simple IDE and suitable for beginners, especially in an educational environment. To that end, it is cross-platform, and avoids feature clutter.

According to the included README, its main features are:

• Multi-window text editor with syntax highlighting, autocompletion, smart indent and other features.
• Python shell with syntax highlighting.
• Integrated debugger with stepping, persistent breakpoints, and call stack visibility.

Author Guido van Rossum says IDLE stands for "Integrated Development and Learning Environment",^[5] and since Van Rossum named the language Python after the British comedy group Monty Python, the name IDLE was probably also chosen partly to honor Eric Idle, one of Monty Python's founding members.^{[6] [7]}

See also

• List of integrated development environments for Python

External links

• • IDLE home page in the Python documentation
• IDLE page in the Python wiki
• A guide to using IDLE

Notes and References

1. From the Help > About screen
2. Web site: IDLE — Python 3.9.5 documentation . 2020-06-04 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200604195234/https://docs.python.org/3/library/idle.html . 2020-06-04 .
3. https://lwn.net/1998/1119/idle.html Subject: IDLE 0.1 -- a Python IDE
4. https://web.archive.org/web/20191101181226/https://hg.python.org/cpython/file/tip/Lib/idlelib/HISTORY.txt IDLE 0.1 was distributed with the Python 1.5.2b1 release on 12/22/98.
5. Web site: IDLE — Python 3.9.2 documentation. 2021-02-26. docs.python.org.
6. Lutz, Mark & Ascher, David (2004). Learning Python, p. 40. O'Reilly Media, Inc. .
7. Book: Hammond . Mark . Robinson . Andy . Python programming on Win32 . 2000 . O'Reilly Media, Inc.. 978-1-56592-621-9 . 59 . 1. .