Boston Python Workshop 8/Friday/Linux text editor: Difference between revisions

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Latest revision as of 00:42, 12 July 2013

We need a good text editor for writing code. Fortunately, Linux comes with a great text editor call GEdit!

Start GEdit

GEdit should already be installed on your computer.

Start GEdit: click Applications, point to Accessories, and click Text Editor. If you don't have this option, let a staff member know.

Configure gedit to indent with spaces

Click Edit -> Preferences
Select the tab labeled "Editor"
In the "Tab width" field, set it to 4 (the default is 8)
Check the box labeled "Insert spaces instead of tabs"
Check the box labeled "Enable automatic indentation"
Click Close.

That's it! Now, you can hit tab to indent your code, and that indentation will actually be made of spaces. We do this because Python doesn't like it when we mix tabs and spaces.

Success!

Now you have an editor that you can use to open any text file, including Python programs.

« Back to the Friday setup page

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+__NOTOC__
-== How to find gedit in the Applications list ==
+[[File:Quill.png|100px]]
-On Linux, we suggest the GEdit text editor.
+We need a good text editor for writing code. Fortunately, Linux comes with a great text editor call GEdit!
-GEdit should already be installed on your computer. To start GEdit: click Applications, point to Accessories, and click Text Editor. If you don't have this option, let a staff member know.
-== How to find GEdit from a terminal ==
+== Start GEdit ==
+GEdit should already be installed on your computer.
-If you prefer to start applications from a terminal, you can type the following into a terminal to launch GEdit:
+Start GEdit: click Applications, point to Accessories, and click Text Editor. If you don't have this option, let a staff member know.
-<pre>
-gedit &
-</pre>
 == Configure gedit to indent with spaces ==
@@ Line 22: / Line 20: @@
 * Click Close.
-That's it! Now, you can hit tab to indent your code, and that indentation will actually be made of spaces. This change will help you use spaces consistently, so that Python doesn't get confused about whitespace.
+That's it! Now, you can hit tab to indent your code, and that indentation will actually be made of spaces. We do this because Python doesn't like it when we mix tabs and spaces.
 == Success! ==
+Now you have an editor that you can use to open any text file, including Python programs.
-If you prefer a different editor for text, check with an instructor before moving on to make sure it will work for the weekend.
+[[File:Champagne.png|100px]][[File:Party.png|125px]]
 [[Boston Python Workshop 8/Friday|&laquo; Back to the Friday setup page]]