When comparing PyCharm Professional Edition vs AWS Cloud 9, the Slant community recommends AWS Cloud 9 for most people. In the question“What are the best JavaScript IDEs or editors?” AWS Cloud 9 is ranked 13th while PyCharm Professional Edition is ranked 19th. The most important reason people chose AWS Cloud 9 is:
Cloud9 gives full terminal access to home directory. In their hosted Linux Ubuntu environment it has sudo powers. No UNIX commands have been blocked - npm, ifconfig, chmod, chown, tar, etc work. All commands can be accessed and any package can be installed. And if the terminal is used when using Remote SSH feature it connects directly to the server and runs the commands on that server.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Version control integration
PyCharm has CVS, Git, Subversion and Mercurial integration.
Pro Catches run-time information when running the code
PyCharm can leverage run-time information when running your application with the built-in debugger to figure out what types can possibly be passed to which functions, etc.
Pro One of the best autocompletion engines around
PyCharm has two types of autocompletion: structural completion and word expansion.
Structural autocompletion makes predictions based on its understanding of Python and JavaScript objects, while the latter tries to predict the word currently being typed based on previously typed words. Word expansion also works in comments and docstrings and it's similar to vim's omnicompletion.
Both types of autocompletion work extremely well, have little to no problems and are quite fast even when loading suggestions on the go.
Pro Great pip support
PyCharm offers great pip integration. When opening a project it automatically checks for a requirements.txt
file in the root of the project. If it's found, it checks if all the libraries are available in the interpreter. If one or more libraries are missing, it issues a warning and asks whether you want to install any missing libraries.
Pro Free version available
There's a community edition (with limited features) that's free to use. You can also get a 30-day trial of the Professional edition.
Pro Excellent integration with debugging tools
All the debugging can be done inside the IDE. Breakpoints in the code can be added using keyboard shortcuts or the mouse. When the code is executed through the debugger a toolbar pops up with all the relevant context needed for the debugging process.
The whole process is smooth and painless and you don't even have to switch windows to do the debugging.
Pro Excellent refactoring support
There are many refactoring options including renaming and changing signature across entire projects. It also includes the an ability to preview changes before committing and exclude anything unwanted.
Pro Free student access to Professional Edition
With a valid .edu address students can register to use the Professional edition and enjoy all the perks of the full paid version for free.
Though it should be mentioned that the with the free student acess you cannot use PyCharm for any commercial purposes, even accepting donations for an open source project.
Pro Vim mode for people used to Vim commands
IdeaVim supports motion keys, insert mode commands, marks, registers, visual mode commands, vim regexps, key mapping, macros, digraphs, some ex and :set commands. You can find a full comparison in the IdeaVim reference manual.
Pro Great for navigating large codebases
PyCharm has amazing code navigation implementations. It supports both goto symbol and goto declaration. The former finds classes, variables, functions, etc by name. While the latter is used by moving the cursor on top of a symbol and by using the mouse or a keyboard combination it finds the declaration of that symbol and takes you there.
Both of these features are extremely helpful when consulting large code-bases and when trying to understand an API written by someone else.
Pro Automatically figures out what test to run based on the method the cursor rests at a given time
PyCharm, based on what method or class the cursor rests, can figure out what tests to run and perform them with a keyboard shortcut or two, without breaking up the flow and need to switch to a command line interface.
Pro Built-in Django support
Pycharm has excellent django support, from templating to management commands, it has it all.
Pro Easy to optimize code with built-in profiling tools
If you have a yappi profiler installed on your interpreter, PyCharm starts the profiling session with it by default, otherwise it uses the standard cProfile profiler.
Pro Remote debugging over ssh coupled with automatic deployment creates a streamlined workflow
The professional version allows remote debugging over ssh, which together with automatic deployment creates a streamlined workflow.
Pro Supports installing third party libraries
No need to go to the command line to download a new package, PyCharm has an easy system to browse, download, and update third party packages.
Pro Has a lot of plugins
PyCharm offers a high variety of plugins like Pylin, Mypy etc. covering all the above mentioned. Plus it has a built-in support to detect wrong formatted/named things (inspection).
Pro Amazing direct database integration
Pycharm supports SQLlite, PostgresQL, Mysql, etc out of the box and is integrated very nicely with Pycharm. Making database modifications could never have been easier as changing a cell value and committing the changes straight from pycharm.
Pro Sophisticated static analysis tools
Pro Full terminal access
Cloud9 gives full terminal access to home directory. In their hosted Linux Ubuntu environment it has sudo powers. No UNIX commands have been blocked - npm, ifconfig, chmod, chown, tar, etc work. All commands can be accessed and any package can be installed.
And if the terminal is used when using Remote SSH feature it connects directly to the server and runs the commands on that server.
Pro Capable editor
Cloud9 uses their own editor called ACE. Besides the basics, it covers most important advanced code editor features such as code folding, converting cases, auto-completion, code analysis and refactoring, regex search and offers easy access to relevant documentation.
It also gives access to the CLI, has support for Vim and Emacs keybindings, includes multiple cursors and zen coding mode that removes all distractions and allows focusing on code.
Pro Great documentation
Cloud9 has extensive, well-organized documentation at docs.c9.io.
Pro Enables real-time online collaboration
An important feature of Cloud9 is the real-time collaboration ability. It allows pairing programs or perform code reviews really easily as well as simultaneously text chat.
Pro Integrates with AWS
Prior to being part of the AWS Toolchain, AWS integrates deeply with CodeStar and AWS Lambda, allowing you to build serverless architechtures.
Pro Offline editing
By installing and running a client application that syncs the local file system and cloud storage Cloud9 can be run locally. Great alternative for situations when the Internet connection is unreliable.
Pro Can be hosted on own server
Since Cloud9 is an open source project with source code available on GitHub, it can be run as a self-hosted solution on own hardware and behind a firewall.
Pro Git & Mercurial support
Git and hg commands can be run in the command-line, the same way as in a local terminal. There are also built-in add-on services for GitHub, BitBucket and GitLab.
Pro Runs any language
The runner has built-in functionality fo Apache, Node, Python, Ruby, Ruby on Rails, Go, CoffeeScript, Julia, Mocha and Shell script, but any other language can be used by creating a runner for it.
Pro Desktop application is available
Prior to the Cloud9 core source code being released, an Alpha version of a desktop version can be built from the source which is based from NW.js. Instructions can be found here.
Pro SSH Workspace
Allows you to connect directly to your external server via SSH. Modifying files directly on your server using a cloud based editor allows you to have the portability of the a cloud based workspace with the control of your own server (including complete DNS control).
Pro Debugging with breakpoints for NodeJS server side JavaScript
Breakpoints allow specifying a stopping points in the execution of the application. When these breakpoints are hit, the application will stop executing and give the ability to examine data such as local variables, run commands and control the execution flow of the application.
Pro Ability to clone multiple repos in one project
Cloud9 provides one free private workspace. However, I can host multiple projects there by cloning as many repositories into the root project directory, thanks to the full access terminal.
Pro Package manager
Similar to package managers for the desktop, Cloud9 also includes their own package manager, c9pm, which allows adding new software from a list of available utilities.
Apt-get can be used in the project's workspace terminal to install/update/upgrade software. Composer, Bower or any other utilities of choice can be installed to manage dependencies and packages.
Pro Provides with a simple way to deploy apps
Cloud9 allows quickly deploying apps via CLI. There are instructions on how to deploy to Azure, CloudFoundry, OpenShift, NodeJitsu, Modulus and Heroku. For example, all hosted environments have Heroku's toolbelt installed by default so all heroku commands are available from the get-go.
Pro Provides with own runtime environment
Cloud9 can connect to a dedicated VM to provide a powerful Ubuntu runtime environment in the cloud using Docker. Apps can be either run from the run panel where a selection of runners is provided or from a terminal.
Pro Support for most databases
In addition to launching a server to run code, Cloud9 will also host a database to develop against. Support for MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB and SQLite.
Pro Browser testing support
Cloud9 integrates with Sauce Labs a browser testing suite that allows previewing the app in any desktop or mobile browser.
Pro Provides with a simple way to deploy apps
Cloud9 allows quickly deploying apps via CLI. There are instructions on how to deploy to Azure, CloudFoundry, OpenShift, NodeJitsu, Modulus and Heroku. For example, all hosted environments have Heroku's toolbelt installed by default so all heroku commands are available from the get-go.
Cons
Con Very high memory usage
Memory usage is usually anywhere around 1-2GB and possibly larger with larger projects
Con Not suitable to edit project's files written in other languages
There is a high variety of support for a lot of languages like markdown etc. Not for Java and so on, but it is a Python IDE.
Con Some relatively basic functionality requires paid license
JavaScript, CoffeeScript, TypeScript, HTML/CSS, SQL requires a paid license. Also, all Python frameworks require a paid license.
Con Odd Autosave "feature", can't be disabled fully
PyCharm automatically saves your files for you, always, without telling you. You can't disable this. There's a way to indicate if a file has been modified via an indicator in the tab (not enabled by default - why?).
If you exit it won't ask you if you want to save the modified file. Totally unintuitive and contrary to all other established workflows. It's ok to try something new, but give users the option to have the "normal" behaviour of any other IDE/editor out there. Can be a deal breaker for those that need to know/have control over when they save their files. (PyCharm offers a history to undo the automatic save, but why force a user to undo something with extra steps that shouldn't have happened in the first place?)
Con Not possible to run scripts in a single console
Con It cannot reindex on the fly packages installed from git source
If you've installed a package with the command:
pip install -e git+https://pass@github.com/me/package.git@0.0.3#egg=package
you have two options available to make PyCharm update/see it:
- restart PyCharm
- invalidate caches
Con Asinine licensing scheme
JetBrains licensing, especially if you have multiple products, is a blocker. You just can't have a fixed line-item price (for departmental budgeting) for their licenses.
Con Vim mode is limited
Con Rendering is awful
Con Little native desktop integration
If you use Linux with Gnome or KDE, PyCharm does relatively little to integrate into your local desktop environment
Con Sometimes all autocomplete stuff dies with over 9k Java exceptions with no visible reason
Con Lacks subdomain options
Building an app that needs subdomains is impossible.
Con Part of Amazon Web Services
While the c9.io site is still up and running, Cloud9 is exclusive for AWS Customers only, and you pay the AWS Compute pricing when you use Cloud9.
Con Free plan asks for credit card details
Free plan requires you to provide a credit card due to the nature of Cloud 9's "Free Workspaces" to be relatively abused. According to the developers, this is the only way to prevent such.
Con Lacks a built-in Java builder and runner
While there is no built-in Java builder or runner currently, C9 has provided instructions on how to set them up. Instructions can be found here.
Con Does not accept New Registrants on c9.io Anymore
As being acquired by Amazon Web Services as part of AWS Cloud9, the c9.io service won't accept new sign ups.
Con Terminal will not work on Windows (Cloud9 SDK)
The terminal package does not work on the Cloud 9 SDK in Windows because it cannot find an appropriate unix shell. This might be a recurring bug undergoing fixes.