Re: writing Python in Emacs

[Terry Jones <terry@jon.es>]

>>>>> "Richard" == Richard Szopa <ryszard.szopa@gmail.com> writes:

Richard> I am a devoted Emacs user and I write a lot in Python.

Me too.

Richard> I need the following features:

Richard> 1) Tab completion, ideally Slime like. That is, when there's not
Richard> enough letters to unambiguously complete a symbol, I want it to
Richard> show a buffer (w/o taking the focus) w/ the possible
Richard> completions. In an ideal world, it would be able to complete
Richard> fo.ba<TAB> to foo.bar. I imagine this would require quite tight
Richard> Emacs-Python integration.

I know this is not what you want, but I use hippie expand (M-/) to cycle
through possible completions. It's not Python aware, but it is of some use.

Richard> 2) Sending the toplevel definition (class or function) to the Python
Richard> buffer.

I switched to IPython to have better interaction with a spawned Python.

To use IPython you need to use the Python mode that is NOT the one from
(endorsed?) by the FSF. It gives you some completion (at least in the
*Python* buffer) and you can send pieces of the buffer to the python
process, via py-send-region (C-c |), py-execute-def-or-class (M-C-x), etc.

Richard> 3) Hints on function/method arguments. IDLE has this done nearly
Richard> right, but the hints are a bit too intrusive for me. I would like to
Richard> see them in the minibuffer.

I don't have this.

Richard> 4) (optional) I would like to see the definition of a function
Richard> function or class by hitting M-. on its name. (I understand that
Richard> this may be impossible for methods, as Emacs would have to
Richard> automagically infer the type of the object).

This is just an emacs tag file need. Have you googled for something like
emacs tags python? The issue of methods might be overcome by just moving
through tags with the same name. Yes, that requires _you_ to know when
you've hit the right thing. That's not optimal, but it's better than
nothing. Ideally you could send the definition to IPython, ask it for the
class info, and use that to jump to the right tag.

Richard> I have tried a couple of times both python-modes (the one shipped w/
Richard> Python and the one shipped w/ Emacs), pymacs and stuff like that...
Richard> And, as I said, never got it right. But, maybe I just cannot find the
Richard> way to configure it, and some configuration hints will be enough...

If you have the time, please summarize your findings. The emacs/python
world has always seemed quite amorphous to me too.

Terry