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Python

REPL vs Text Editor

Why do we keep learning new concepts in the REPL and not the Text editor? Won't we have to relearn how to use these concepts when we use the editor to write the code?

1 Answer

Chris Freeman
MOD
Chris Freeman
Treehouse Moderator 68,441 Points

The REPL is a great place to try simple commands to get quick feedback. To use a text editor for these, you would need to create a file, add the statement, save the file, then execute using python filename.py. Using a text editor also requires you to add "output" statements to show the results. In the REPL, the results of the last expression are automatically printed to the console.

When moving to larger examples, typing into a an editor makes more practical sense. The basic REPL command line does not let you go back to edit a previous line in a multi-line statement. (For a multi-line edit REPL try ipython)

Post back if you need more help. Good luck!!

Thanks!