writing Python in Emacs

[Richard Szopa]

Hi All,

I am a devoted Emacs user and I write a lot in Python. However, I
never managed to get my Emacs configuration right for this purpose.
There were some discussions on this, but the threads that show if I
search the group are either old or not so relevant.

I need the following features:

0) Of course, syntax coloring and so on... But this works good enough
ootb in the two most popular python-modes.

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

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

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

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

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

As for other editors, I have tried Eclipse and Komodo... But I cannot
get used to them. As for non-emacs stuff, the most comfortable for me
has been IDLE.

Cheers and thanks in advance,

    -- Richard