Using alternative Python shells – IPython

While usable, the default shell for the Python interpreter has significant limitations when compared to what computers can do nowadays. For starters, the regular Python interactive interpreter does not support syntax highlight or auto-indenting, among other features.

IPython is one of the most popular replacement interactive shells for Python. Some of the features IPython offers compared to vanilla Python include:

• Comprehensive object introspection, allowing access to docstrings, source code, and other objects accessible to the interpreter
• Persistent input history
• Caching output results
• Extendable tab completion, with support for variables, keywords, functions, and filenames
• magic commands (denoted by a prepended %) to control the environment and interact with the OS
• Extensive configuration system
• Session logging and reload
• Embeddable within Python programs and GUIs
• Integrated access to debugger and profiler
• Multi-line editing
• Syntax highlighting

Included with...