Source code: Lib/idlelib/
IDLE is Python’s Integrated Development and Learning Environment.
IDLE has the following features:
Upon startup with the -s option, IDLE will execute the file referenced by the environment variables IDLESTARTUP or PYTHONSTARTUP. IDLE first checks for IDLESTARTUP; if IDLESTARTUP is present the file referenced is run. If IDLESTARTUP is not present, IDLE checks for PYTHONSTARTUP. Files referenced by these environment variables are convenient places to store functions that are used frequently from the IDLE shell, or for executing import statements to import common modules.
In addition, Tk also loads a startup file if it is present. Note that the Tk file is loaded unconditionally. This additional file is .Idle.py and is looked for in the user’s home directory. Statements in this file will be executed in the Tk namespace, so this file is not useful for importing functions to be used from IDLE’s Python shell.
idle.py [-c command] [-d] [-e] [-h] [-i] [-r file] [-s] [-t title] [-] [arg] ...
-c command run command in the shell window
-d enable debugger and open shell window
-e open editor window
-h print help message with legal combinations and exit
-i open shell window
-r file run file in shell window
-s run $IDLESTARTUP or $PYTHONSTARTUP first, in shell window
-t title set title of shell window
- run stdin in shell (- must be last option before args)
If there are arguments:
IDLE uses a socket to communicate between the IDLE GUI process and the user code execution process. A connection must be established whenever the Shell starts or restarts. (The latter is indicated by a divider line that says ‘RESTART’). If the user process fails to connect to the GUI process, it displays a Tk error box with a ‘cannot connect’ message that directs the user here. It then exits.
A common cause of failure is a user-written file with the same name as a standard library module, such as random.py and tkinter.py. When such a file is located in the same directory as a file that is about to be run, IDLE cannot import the stdlib file. The current fix is to rename the user file.
Though less common than in the past, an antivirus or firewall program may stop the connection. If the program cannot be taught to allow the connection, then it must be turned off for IDLE to work. It is safe to allow this internal connection because no data is visible on external ports. A similar problem is a network mis-configuration that blocks connections.
Python installation issues occasionally stop IDLE: multiple versions can clash, or a single installation might need admin access. If one undo the clash, or cannot or does not want to run as admin, it might be easiest to completely remove Python and start over.
A zombie pythonw.exe process could be a problem. On Windows, use Task Manager to detect and stop one. Sometimes a restart initiated by a program crash or Keyboard Interrupt (control-C) may fail to connect. Dismissing the error box or Restart Shell on the Shell menu may fix a temporary problem.
When IDLE first starts, it attempts to read user configuration files in ~/.idlerc/ (~ is one’s home directory). If there is a problem, an error message should be displayed. Leaving aside random disk glitches, this can be prevented by never editing the files by hand, using the configuration dialog, under Options, instead Options. Once it happens, the solution may be to delete one or more of the configuration files.
If IDLE quits with no message, and it was not started from a console, try starting from a console (python -m idlelib) and see if a message appears.
With rare exceptions, the result of executing Python code with IDLE is intended to be the same as executing the same code in a console window. However, the different interface and operation occasionally affect visible results. For instance, sys.modules starts with more entries.
IDLE also replaces sys.stdin, sys.stdout, and sys.stderr with objects that get input from and send output to the Shell window. When Shell has the focus, it controls the keyboard and screen. This is normally transparent, but functions that directly access the keyboard and screen will not work. If sys is reset with importlib.reload(sys), IDLE’s changes are lost and things like input, raw_input, and print will not work correctly.
With IDLE’s Shell, one enters, edits, and recalls complete statements. Some consoles only work with a single physical line at a time. IDLE uses exec to run each statement. As a result, '__builtins__' is always defined for each statement.
IDLE is intentionally different from standard Python in order to facilitate development of tkinter programs. Enter import tkinter as tk; root = tk.Tk() in standard Python and nothing appears. Enter the same in IDLE and a tk window appears. In standard Python, one must also enter root.update() to see the window. IDLE does the equivalent in the background, about 20 times a second, which is about every 50 milleseconds. Next enter b = tk.Button(root, text='button'); b.pack(). Again, nothing visibly changes in standard Python until one enters root.update().
Most tkinter programs run root.mainloop(), which usually does not return until the tk app is destroyed. If the program is run with python -i or from an IDLE editor, a >>> shell prompt does not appear until mainloop() returns, at which time there is nothing left to interact with.
When running a tkinter program from an IDLE editor, one can comment out the mainloop call. One then gets a shell prompt immediately and can interact with the live application. One just has to remember to re-enable the mainloop call when running in standard Python.
By default, IDLE executes user code in a separate subprocess via a socket, which uses the internal loopback interface. This connection is not externally visible and no data is sent to or received from the Internet. If firewall software complains anyway, you can ignore it.
If the attempt to make the socket connection fails, Idle will notify you. Such failures are sometimes transient, but if persistent, the problem may be either a firewall blocking the connection or misconfiguration of a particular system. Until the problem is fixed, one can run Idle with the -n command line switch.
If IDLE is started with the -n command line switch it will run in a single process and will not create the subprocess which runs the RPC Python execution server. This can be useful if Python cannot create the subprocess or the RPC socket interface on your platform. However, in this mode user code is not isolated from IDLE itself. Also, the environment is not restarted when Run/Run Module (F5) is selected. If your code has been modified, you must reload() the affected modules and re-import any specific items (e.g. from foo import baz) if the changes are to take effect. For these reasons, it is preferable to run IDLE with the default subprocess if at all possible.
Deprecated since version 3.4.
IDLE includes a help menu entry called “Python Docs” that will open the extensive sources of help, including tutorials, available at docs.python.org. Selected URLs can be added or removed from the help menu at any time using the Configure IDLE dialog. See the IDLE help option in the help menu of IDLE for more information.
The font preferences, highlighting, keys, and general preferences can be changed via Configure IDLE on the Option menu. Keys can be user defined; IDLE ships with four built-in key sets. In addition, a user can create a custom key set in the Configure IDLE dialog under the keys tab.
IDLE contains an extension facility. Preferences for extensions can be changed with the Extensions tab of the preferences dialog. See the beginning of config-extensions.def in the idlelib directory for further information. The only current default extension is zzdummy, an example also used for testing.