When comparing Eric Python IDE vs Spyder, the Slant community recommends Spyder for most people. In the question“What are the best Python IDEs or editors?” Spyder is ranked 7th while Eric Python IDE is ranked 14th. The most important reason people chose Spyder is:
Released under the MIT license.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Integrated python debugger
Eric has a python debugger built-in.
Pro Good project management
Pro Integration with version control software
Integrates with various VCS.
Pro Integrated class browser
With Eric you can easily browse all classes in your current Python project and display the methods for a given class.
Pro Free and open-source
Released under the MIT license.
Pro Graph plotting support
Spyder can plot graphs and provide the list of all variables.
Pro Enables to write consistent code
Pylint integration enables to check the code for PEP8 style guide and detect errors.
Pro Powerful autocompletion
Spyder's autocomplete features are made possible by a library called rope which gives Spyder powerful autocompletion.
Pro Has cross platform support - Linux, Mac, and even Windows
Spyder (formerly Pydee) has support for all of the major operating platforms - Linux, Mac, and even Windows.
Pro Helps you to use documentation
Pro Intuitive interface
Pro Relatively lightweight
Pro Has support for Vim bindings via plugin support
Aside from being an open sourced, actively developed IDE, vim key-binding support is also available. If you remember Pydee - this is it, albeit with a new name.
Pro Good GitHub project
Pro Excellent variable explorer
Dynamic variable explorer with editor and visualizer
Pro Completely Python
Cons
Con Auto completion is not very good
The auto completion is not top-notch compared to other IDEs and text editors. In fact, many people recommend installing a third-party plugin to improve the auto completion found in Eric.
Con Complex interface
Eric has a very complex UI. It overwhelms you with sections and windows and doesn't let you focus on code. Every tool is displayed on the top bars (there are 3) with no logical grouping or structure whatsoever.
Con Not beautiful
The default theme is not beautiful. And there are not many themes.
Con The documentation is poor when it comes to debugging
Not a lot of information about debugging is available in the documentation.
Con Consumes a lot of memory
If you're working with large data, especially arrays, another IDE should be considered as spyder uses at least 200-300Mb of memory.
