CodeRunner vs IDLE
When comparing CodeRunner vs IDLE, the Slant community recommends CodeRunner for most people. In the question“What are the best Python IDEs or editors?” CodeRunner is ranked 26th while IDLE is ranked 35th. The most important reason people chose CodeRunner is:
You can have multiple tabs open with multiple languages in at the same time and Code Runner still performs excellently. Searching through code is always instant and executing code is fast.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Fast and efficient
You can have multiple tabs open with multiple languages in at the same time and Code Runner still performs excellently. Searching through code is always instant and executing code is fast.
Pro Supports many different languages
Code Runner comes preinstalled with over 20 languages built in, and it's super easy to run simple programs.
Pro Sometimes simple is best
For short scripts, a heavyweight IDE just gets in the way. It's also easier for beginners to understand.
Pro Written in pure Python/tkinter
You can dig in and change how it works.
Pro Included in standard Python distributions
You probably already have it.
Pro Debugger
It has one.
Cons
Con Working with very very large projects
Code runner is fantastic for shorter projects, although it can handle very large projects. It stops code completion when the program gets to be several thousands of lines long.
Con No Tabbing for Files or Shell instances
Idle's Interactive Python Shell and the Python Text Editor are separate window applications. Many would expect them to be unified together within a single window. To create a python program file, or module, the user first opens Idle (It's Interactive Shell), then the user goes to [File] and [New File] to open the Idle Text Editor. Plus, every time a new python file is opened, a new instance of Idle runs separately. So, there are no tabbed modules. That's clumsy approach that adds the complexity of juggling around many Idle instances.