Possible Duplicate:
What IDE to use for Python
I have Notepad++ and NetBeans 6.8, however I don't know if they work. I know you can edit Python with Notepad++ and compile/run it using the command line thing, but I'm not really sure how. I know NetBeans is a full-featured IDE and you can compile Java programs, but I don't think they support Python?
Any ideas?
Actually, netbeans has some python support right now: http://wiki.netbeans.org/Python. It works (still I prefer a plain text editor).
For a list of python IDEs i'd call this list comprehensive: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/81584/what-ide-to-use-for-python
I would go with IntelliJ IDEA, it has a great python plugin. Eclipse with PyDev is also nice, if you like open source.
I like PyDev under Eclipse ( and of course Eclipse does Java too).
Have a look at PythonEditors, there is a huge list of editors/IDEs with python-support.
You have IDLE installed with Python. It is good editor which serves the purpose well. It is multi windowed, have syntax highlighting and auto complete features.
I'm certain there are a number of IDEs with Python plugins (Eclipse and Emacs spring to mind) but there are two things you want to look for. The first is support for basic lint checking (little red squiggly concept) through some kind of tool (pylint or pychecker). The second is support for running the Python interpreter embedded into it.
Eclipse with PyDev has been a great combination for me. Great editing experience and more importantly a good debugger. Pylint is supported as well, this will save you lots of headaches. This is all open source too. If you want to do IronPython development though I would add SharpDevelop 3.1.1. It has a drag & drop GUI form designer and overall is very much like Visual Studio, except it's free of course.
I use Komodo Edit for all of my Python work. Actually, I use Komodo Edit for all of my IDE uses save for when I'm working in .Net. It's not really a full on IDE, but it's been perfect for everything I've used it for. It's pretty lightweight, has good syntax highlighting, but doesn't shove a lot of arcane project file overhead at you that you'd need to learn. It's worth having around, in my opinion, even if it doesn't suit your needs for Python.
Python doesn't need to be compiled - it compiles itself (to bytecode) when you run it. Any text editor will work.
Edit in response to comment: Yes, absolutely (although I think NetBeans does support Python). You'll find that IDEs are much less of a requirement when using a dynamic language like Python or Ruby, compared to Java or C#.