You might want to think of plugins as an integral part of your computing and web browsing, making sure each activity you do is running smoothly, even if it is just about viewing a document or surfing a blog.
Plugins for PyCharm IDE
Just like every other software, several tools and IDEs also offer support for plugins to improve their productivity and performance. Since PyCharm has been one of the most widely used IDEs for Python development, several plugins were introduced to ensure a suitable working environment for programmers.
Here is a rundown of the best plugins you can install for PyCharm.
1. Highlight Bracket Pair
The highlight bracket pair plugin helps identify bracket pairs in your code based on the cursor’s position. It eliminates the need to manually scan the start and ends of the bracket, thereby saving us time over this vexing maneuver. Moreover, it is also compatible with all other IntelliJ-based IDEs and languages like Java, Groovy, JavaScript, Ruby, HTML, JSON, XML, and CSS.
A quick demonstration is presented in the images below.
2. Grep Console
Grep console assists Python users enabling them to use the “grep” command more conveniently. It allows you to filter out the complex parts of the programs. Moreover, it also helps you in understanding your program at a deeper level and makes debugging hassle-free.
Its features include:
- Changing colors of matching text
- Opening designated output into a new console tab
- Changing output using any other plugin
- Clearing the console
- Highlighting specific code segments
- Filtering out any unwanted lines of code
- Organizing hundreds of lines of code through the easy filter and highlighting options
3. Rainbow Brackets
One of the most convenient plugins that you can use in multipart codes is Rainbow Brackets. The best part about it is that it highlights multiple bracket pairs that are deeply nested within each other. Its pivotal role lies in matching bracket pairs with matching rainbow colors, unlike the Highlight Bracket Pair, thereby avoiding confusion. It is also an IntelliJ plugin that supports many other languages other than Python.
4. Key Promoter X
For developers, the use of keyboard shortcuts is highly significant. Moreover, at times, using IDEs through the mouse gets a little uncomfortable. This PyCharm plugin brings a variety of keyboard shortcuts that make the coding more streamlined and free of monotonous mouse work. Once you download the plugin, Key Promoter X will show you a list of shortcuts for keyboard buttons. Interestingly, you can play around with various shortcuts and customize them to find the combinations that suit your needs best.
5. String Manipulation
Manipulating text during long lines of code can get cumbersome at times. For that purpose, this plugin, String Manipulation, helps convert lower case letters into upper case letters and vice versa. Moreover, it also has options for other text manipulation, including:
- Switch case: Camelcase, Kebab-lowercase, Kebab-uppercase, Dot case, Words lowercase, Snake_case, Screaming snake case, First-word capitalization, Words, Capitalizes, Pascal case.
- Capitalization
- Case inversion
- Encoding and decoding to different formats
- Incrementing and decrementing numbers
- Sorting cases, asc, desc, and sub-selected texts
- Aligning and indenting text
- Trimming spaces and unwanted text
- Removing redundant lines of code
- Swapping characters
To download this handy plugin, click here.
6. Save Actions
The name says it all. This incredible plugin saves files and runs a set of actions regarding importing and reforming to make things easier for you. Its features include:
- Optimizing your imports.
- Running multiple files.
- Rearranging codes.
- Reformatting codes.
- Provide files with regex support.
- Integration with any file types such as Python, Java, and XML.
It is also compatible with IntelliJ IDEA, PHPStorm, Android Studio, RubyMine, and CLion other than PyCharm.
7. Ace Jump
Ace jump is a great plugin to boost your productivity while writing, running, and debugging codes in PyCharm. It allows moving or repositioning the caret to any particular position without using the mouse. You can navigate it to any position where you are working in the editor. Just press the keys “ctrl+;” and type a character and then type any matching character to the Ace Jump. See how it works in the image below.
8. Nyan Progress Bar
A useful plugin that records your progress with a Nyan cat to make your IDE more enthralling and add a unique vibe to it.
9. Rainglow Color Schemes
Specially designed for all JetBrains IDEs, this plugin comprises a collection of color themes to make your working environment colorful to work on. Helpful in immersion when it comes to big projects, especially for beginners.
10. Legacy Icon Pack 2018.2+
Working in the same environment with old themes and colors makes work dull and less motivating. This exciting theme brings a pack of icons to help you replace the old ones with new monochrome icons, thereby adding a little spice to your graphical interface. You can choose icons from IntelliJ 2016.2 and 2018.1.
11. Sonar Lint
This plugin is highly recommended for beginners and intermediate coders to help polish their lines of code by doing minor improvements. It can not only detect but also let you fix them. You can fix small bugs, redundancies, spelling mistakes, code flaws, and unclogged exceptions to help keep your code a cut above.
It can be used for several programming languages, including Java, Ruby, Kotlin, JavaScript, PHP, and Python.
12. Tabnine
Tabnine is an AI tool for code completion. It facilitates you in completing your code and discovering contemporary ways of improving upon it. It uses deep learning tools and is much better in its AI regarding recommendations and options, so it is the go-to option for most developers. Several other plugins like “AiXcoder” and “Kite AI” have been introduced for the convenience of programmers, but none can match up to the standard of Tabnine. So it is a must-have plugin if you are a developer looking for that boost in Productivity.
13. IdeaVim
If you are looking for a powerful text editor, mainly for IntelliJ-based IDE’s, look no further. IdeaVim is an emulation of the original Vim that was developed for Unix. It is a compact program that can also run in a terminal and is heavily used to read and write text with suitable modification options. It can also run without the use of a mouse. It introduces a lot of interesting features to play around with. Definitely worth a shot if you are using any IntelliJ-based IDE.
Conclusion
Nowadays, plugins have become an integral part of keeping IDE functionality at its finest. Plugins in Pycharm save your time and provide flexibility through better resources and features. Depending on your needs, they offer feasible solutions and save you from various pitfalls in your programming.
