Python development with Eclipse and Ant - pydev

 

 

Python development with Eclipse and Ant

http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/opensource/library/os-ecant/

 

RPS Technologies - Python Ant tasks

http://www.rpstechnologies.net/PyAntTasks.html

 

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Python development using the Eclipse IDE and Apache Ant build tool

 

Using Eclipse for Python development

Overview of Eclipse

Eclipse is a Java technology integrated development environment that was developed and open sourced by IBM. It is the basis for IBM's commercial WebSphere Application Development environment, and various other tools. Eclipse has an extremely active community of developers who develop Eclipse itself and the large number of plug-ins available for it. See the Resources section for links to the Eclipse and Eclipse plug-ins Web sites. Although traditionally a tool for Java development, several plug-ins exist for developing with other languages within Eclipse, including C/C++, Python, and Perl.

Within Eclipse, source code is organized into projects. Projects may be loaded, unloaded, and imported. The Eclipse user interface is structured into views and editors. Examples of views and editors include the source code outline view, Java source editor, Python source editor, and filesystem navigator view. One of the key metaphors within the Eclipse user interface is the perspective. Perspectives are an organization of views that would typically be used together when carrying out some type of activity. The perspectives that are standard with Eclipse are: Debug, Java Browsing, Java, Java Type Hierarchy, Plug-in Development, CVS Repository Exploring, Resource, and the Install/Update perspective. A separate Python perspective does not currently exist. When doing Python development, I typically use the Resource perspective and Debug perspective.

Installing PyDev

To get started, download and install Eclipse from the Eclipse Web site (see link in Resources section), following the installation instructions appropriate for your platform.

The Eclipse update facility makes it easy to install the PyDev plug-in. From within Eclipse, select Help > Software Updates > Update Manager to start the Install/Update perspective. In the Feature Updates view at the bottom left, add the PyDev plug-in update site as a new Site Bookmark under the folder "Sites to Visit". The Eclipse update site URL for PyDev is http://pydev.sf.net/updates/. "PyDev" should now be displayed as a feature in the Feature Updates editor. In the Feature Updates editor, expand PyDev > Other, and select the PyDev feature which is displayed (should be at least 0.4.1). Then select "Install Now" to install the feature. Eclipse will download the PyDev plug-in and install it into Eclipse.

Importing the sample project

To access the sample code used within this project, download the zip file (see Resources section), expand the zip file into your filesystem, and then import the contained project into Eclipse. To import the project, switch into the Resource perspective, select File > Import, select "Existing Project into Workspace", and select the location where you expanded the zip file. The feedParserTest project should now appear in the Navigator view.

For the sample project, I've included the Feed Parser universal feed parser library, which is distributed under the Python open source license. See the Resources section for a link to the Feed Parser project Web site.