Atom vs Pycharm: Everything You Need to Know

In this article, I would like to discuss the differences between Atom and Pycharm. If you are a new programmer and you are thinking about choosing which source code editor to use for coding python. Then this article will help you if you wonder which of these two editors is better for you. So let’s begin to compare Atom vs. Pycharm.

Contents

Atom

Atom is a free editor which is fully open source and is developed by GitHub. It is available on Mac OS, Linux, and Windows. That comes with tons of plugins that are written in JavaScript. As developers call it a “hackable text editor for the 21st century”. Additionally, you can fully customize it with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Features of Atom

It is fully customizable, which means you can easily change something if you don’t like it. And add anything that you require or find missing.
There is an init script to extend CoffeeScript. If you are and CoffeeScript programmer, then you can play around with this editor. And develop its features.
You can change the whole look of Atom with the help of the Stylesheet. If you know CSS, then you can change the visual of the editor. With the use of different colors, highlights, and fonts. There are lots of plugins that can help you do that.
Use different key combinations to run the command if you are migrating from another editor. Then you can change the shortcut key combinations according to your liking.
You can also wrap up all the functionality in a single package. It is an advanced feature if you want to save your functionalities and create a single package. Then you can do it.
It comes with Syntax highlighting enabled with the package. In many editors, you may require a third-party plugin to do so.
Additionally, it enables users to install third-party plugins and themes. There is an extensive library of plugins and themes that Atom supports. And it’s constantly being developed.

Pycharm

It is an integrated development environment IDE and specially built for Python language. It was developed by the Czech company JetBrains. It comes for or Windows, Linux, and Mac OS.

There are two editions; one is the community edition which is free to use. The Other version is the Professional edition for which you have to pay to use, and there is a trial version as well.

Features of pycharm

It provides code analysis, code autocomplete, Syntax, and error highlight. It also assists with quick fixes of the code. It helps you write code more efficiently.
It comes with a graphical debugger that helps you remove bugs from your code without any hassle using the integrated Python debugger.
It is integrated with a version control system like git. So you can work with version control using the Pycharm editor easily.
It supports web development with Django and data science with Anaconda. If you are working with these applications then, Pycharm is the editor for you.
Just like Atom, it also has a vast plugin library with more than a thousand plugins. The Python community backs it up.
It comes with Google App Engine to build a Python application. But only available in the professional version, which is not for free.
Easy code navigation so you can navigate to different parts of the code more swiftly. It comes in handy when you have bigger source files.
It supports a variety of web frameworks such as Flask, Django, fast API, Tornado, web2py, etc.

Difference Between Pycharm and atom

Setup and Installation

Both editors require the same type of setup pretty much. No need for any advanced requirements; follow the python documentation. And download python on your PC or Mac. You can add some python extensions and plugins in Atom.

Learning Curve

If you are new to programming, it might take some time to learn about these editors. Still, you can start using Atom right away. Pycharm has lots of features, so you might need some time to know about the IDE in depth.

Price point

Atom is entirely free, and you don’t have to pay anything to use it. But Pycharm, on the other hand, does not have all the features in the free version. You have to pay extra for those additional features.

Verdict: What to choose Atom vs Pycharm?

Atom Vs Pycharm Survey — Atom VS Pycharm

Pycharm was voted the most used IDE for Python programming. According to the Python developer survey of 2020. And very few voted for atom. That means developers prefer Pycharm over Atom for development.

When comparing both of these applications, you must remember one of the measure text editors, and the other is an IDE. Developed for different purposes, so when it comes to which is better than the other.

Then the answer will be both of them are good in their own right. But if you are a python programmer, Pycharm will be more beneficial for you because Pycharm was built for programming python. So IDE will always be better than editors.

On the other hand, Atom is like an advanced general-purpose programming language editor for any language such as C, C++, Java, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, etc.

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Which does not mean you cannot use an atom for python. But you get more features in Pycharm. But I would not recommend IDE for beginners for any language.

It would be best if you used an editor like Atom to learn any language. Once you are a little advanced, then you can migrate into Pycharm. IDE is a little complex than editors.

Final Thoughts

I hope you like this article about Atom vs. Pycharm. Both of these are good editors. And they are trendy nowadays. It’s all about preference which one you like the most. One crucial factor to consider here is that if you need an editor for multiple languages, Pycharm may not be the best option because Pycharm supports only a few languages. For example, C/C++ is not supported in Pycharm. In that case, Atom will be the best option for you.