Download Python Tools for Visual Studio 1.0

Microsoft has made available a Visual Studio 2010 extension designed to deliver an integrated environment for developers building Python projects.

S. Somasegar, senior vice president of Developer Division, revealed that the release of the Python Tools for Visual Studio 1.0 comes as a response of the expanding community of Python devs.

“To support this growing community, we’ve released PTVS, an extension to Visual Studio that provides for Python the wealth of features developers desire in a modern and mature IDE. PTVS is aimed at enthusiast and professional Python developers alike. PTVS also includes features specialized for technical computing,” Somasegar said.

Version 1.0 of Python Tools for Visual Studio can be downloaded from Microsoft’s CodePlex site, where the project is housed.

And yes, in addition to being available free of charge, Python Tools for Visual Studio 1.0 are also open source, released under Apache License 2.0.

Developers leveraging Python Tools for Visual Studio 1.0 will be able to enjoy support for CPython, IronPython, Jython, and PyPy.

Somasegar enumerated additional features including: advanced editing capabilities, including IntelliSense; multiple refactorings, such as “Extract Method;” a built-in REPL (read-eval-print loop) window; and debugging and profiling capabilities.”

The free & open source plug-in for Visual Studio 2010 was created by the Microsoft Developer Division, with the goal of transforming VS into a Python IDE.

Somasegar underlines that developers get a complex set of features to make building Python projects a great experience.

“Capabilities begin with basics like syntax highlighting and extend to support for the navigation bar and object browser. It provides IntelliSense for your Python code based on a deep analysis of either your project or a directory of files, including understanding your classes and methods and peering into how you’re using core Python data structures like lists, tuples, and dicts,” he said.

“Additionally, based upon the same analysis used for IntelliSense, PTVS provides “Find all References” and “Go to Definition” features, which allow you to quickly navigate your code.”

Python Tools for Visual Studio 1.0 is available for download here.

Visual Studio 2010 Service Pack 1 (SP1) RTM ISO and Installer are available for download here.