Mastering writing code on PyDev

One of these days I was pair coding with a friend -- which was also using PyDev -- and upon looking him code I realized that there are some simple things which everyone should know when writing code on PyDev:

1. Want to write a new line? Use Shift+Enter: This is what I almost always use in PyDev instead of the plain enter to enter a new line.

How it works: It'll emulate moving to the end of the line and pressing enter there.

Tip: It can be used when there's a completion to avoid applying it while going to the next line (as Enter is also used to apply a completion if you don't use Shift+Enter you have to press ESC before to avoid applying it if you use a plain Enter).

2. Want to copy or move some lines? Ctrl+Alt+Up will copy the lines up and Ctrl+Alt+Down will copy them down and then Alt+Up or Alt+Down can be used to move them up or down (so, it's a line-oriented copy/paste which is really handy).

3. Is there a string or comment which is too big and you want to wrap it? Use Ctrl+2, W and it'll wrap it for you (using the number of columns assigned in the print margin preferences).

4. Want to create a docstring for the parameters of a method? Ctrl+1 -> Make Docstring (in a line with the method declaration).

5. Assign parameters to variables? Ctrl+1 -> Assign parameters to attributes (in a line with the method declaration in a class). Alternatively use Ctrl+2, A.

6. Want to select the current word? Shift+Alt+Up will select the current word for you (and if you keep using Shift+Alt+Up it'll then select the enclosing context and Shift+Alt+Down will deselect it again).

7. Rectangular selection: Shift+Alt+A.

8. Want to rename a local token? To do that use Ctrl+2, R (note that for renaming a token in multiple modules you'd use Shift+Alt+R or a package/module in the PyDev Package Explorer would be renamed with F2).

9. To rename something that's not a token (such as a comma) -- if you're in LiClipse (which adds this feature) -- you can do Ctrl+K (or Ctrl+Shift+K to go backwards) multiple times to mark the places you want to rename and then go on to rename it (as a note, Ctrl+Alt+K will unlink one of the occurrences). This can also be used for a substring -- or any character combination for that matter.

10. Do you have some code with multiple tokens that are not found and need to be imported? Ctrl+Shift+O can be used to resolve the multiple missing tokens. Alternatively you could also use Ctrl+1 on a line with a missing import to get the suggestion to add it (if it wasn't already added in a code-completion which added it for you automatically).

11. Like TDD coding? i.e.: write the test first and do the code later. If so, you can usually write the test and use Ctrl+1 to provide a suggestion to create the missing method, module or attribute.

12. PyDev doesn't automatically re-analyze dependent modules when one module changes, so, I've seen people just add some space and save the file again just to force a new code analysis... while this works, there's a specific keybinding: Ctrl+2, C which will force a code-analysis in the current module.

13. When there are many contiguous lines commented and you want to uncomment them, do you see yourself selecting all those lines to uncomment it? Did you know that Ctrl+5 does that promptly for you from any line of that block?

14. Just edited something but don't remember where it was? Ctrl+Q can be used to go to the last place you edited some code.

15. Do you have some code you just copied from somewhere and want to create a module with it? Go to the PyDev package explorer and just paste the code there to create a new module with those contents.

16. Do you have some method call or variable that you want to add to another local variable or field? Use Ctrl+1 (on a line that still doesn't have an assign) and choose assign to local or assign to field.

Besides those tips, print the bindings from: http://pydev.org/manual_adv_keybindings.html and leave it by your side until you don't master them :)