Python-mode is a vim plugin that enables you to write Python code in Vim editor in a fast manner by utilizing libraries including pylint, rope, pydoc, pyflakes, pep8, autopep8, pep257 and mccabe for coding features such as static analysis, refactoring, folding, completion, documentation, and more.

Suggested Read: Bash-Support – A Vim Plugin That Converts Vim Editor to Bash-IDE

This plugin contains all the features that you can use to develop python applications in Vim editor.

Python-mode Features

It has the following notable features:

Support Python version 2.6+ and 3.2+.

Supports syntax highlighting.

Offers virtualenv support.

Supports python folding.

Offers enhanced python indentation.

Enables running of python code from within Vim.

Enables addition/removal of breakpoints.

Supports python motions and operators.

Enables code checking (pylint, pyflakes, pylama, …) that can be run simultaneouslyi>

Supports autofixing of PEP8 errors.

Allows searching in python documentation.

Supports code refactoring.

Supports strong code completion.

Supports going to definition.

In this tutorial, we will show you how to setup Vim to use Python-mode in Linux to develop Python applications in Vim editor.

How to Install Python-mode for Vim in Linux

Start by installing Pathogen (makes it super easy to install plugins and runtime files in their own private directories) for easy installation of Python-mode.

Run the commands below to get the pathogen.vim file and the directories it needs:

# mkdir -p ~/.vim/autoload ~/.vim/bundle && \ # curl -LSso ~/.vim/autoload/pathogen.vim https://tpo.pe/pathogen.vim

Then add the following lines below to your ~/.vimrc file:

execute pathogen#infect() syntax on filetype plugin indent on

Once you have installed pathogen, and you can now put Python-mode into ~/.vim/bundle as follows.

# cd ~/.vim/bundle # git clone https://github.com/klen/python-mode.git

Then rebuild helptags in vim like this.

:helptags

You need to enable filetype-plugin (:help filetype-plugin-on) and filetype-indent (:help filetype-indent-on) to use python-mode.

Install Python-mode in Debian and Ubuntu

Another way you can install python-mode in Debian and Ubuntu systems using PPA as shown.

$ sudo add-apt-repository https://klen.github.io/python-mode/deb main $ sudo apt-get update $ sudo apt-get install vim-python-mode

If you you encounter the message: “The following signatures couldn’t be verified because the public key is not available”, run the command below:

$ sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys B5DF65307000E266

Now enable python-mode using vim-addon-manager like so.

$ sudo apt install vim-addon-manager $ vim-addons install python-mode

Customizing Python-mode in Linux

To override the default key bindings, redefine them in the .vimrc files, for instance:

" Override go-to.definition key shortcut to Ctrl-] let g:pymode_rope_goto_definition_bind = "<C-]>" " Override run current python file key shortcut to Ctrl-Shift-e let g:pymode_run_bind = "<C-S-e>" " Override view python doc key shortcut to Ctrl-Shift-d let g:pymode_doc_bind = "<C-S-d>"

Note that python-mode uses python 2 syntax checking by default. You can enable python 3 syntax checking by adding this in your .vimrc.

let g:pymode_python = 'python3'

You can find additional configuration options on the Python-mode Github Repository: https://github.com/python-mode/python-mode

That’s all for now! In this tutorial, we will show you how to integrate Vim to with Python-mode in Linux. Share your thoughts with us via the feedback form below.