vim as a Python IDE

[fatalaccidents]

Hey guys,

I wasn't exactly sure where to put this post, but this was my best guess:

I'm on a HPC and wanted to use vim as a python IDE and was trying to install my own version of vim (7.3) with a python interpreter. I use configure to enable pythoninterp but then I get a

checking Python version... 2.6
checking Python is 1.4 or better... yep
checking Python's install prefix... /usr
checking Python's execution prefix... /usr
checking Python's configuration directory...
can't find it!

Is this because it doesn't have the proper permissions to change something in /usr?

I was thinking I could install my own python on the HPC, but I'm not sure how to tell the vim installer not to look at the distro's version and to look at mine. As you can tell I'm supremely confused, and any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

As a side question, if I am going to install my own version of python on the HPC should I use iPython? Is there any drawbacks to using iPython instead in the unix environment?

Thanks!

[Gribouillis]

The python development files may be missing in your system. Usually in linux, there is a 'python' package and a 'python devel' package (on my mandriva it's 'lib64python2.6-devel'). The devel package contains header files and libraries typically used by C programs which interact with python. So, try to find the development package that goes with your OS.

[fatalaccidents]

Thanks for the reply,

I imagined that I could just get the development package for python, but I wouldn't really know how to tell vim when it is installing to look at my folder for the development package instead of the one in /usr. That is where the real problem lies.

Also, I know vim has pythoninterp, but would this also allow me to point to an iPython development package and be operational?

[Gribouillis]

Thanks for the reply,

I imagined that I could just get the development package for python, but I wouldn't really know how to tell vim when it is installing to look at my folder for the development package instead of the one in /usr. That is where the real problem lies.

Also, I know vim has pythoninterp, but would this also allow me to point to an iPython development package and be operational?

I don't know about ipython, but google gives a link to this thread with configure options that could help you http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3373914/compiling-vim-with-python-support

[fatalaccidents]

This is exactly what I was looking for! I bow before your superior googling skills, because I couldn't find what I was looking for in my searches.

[fatalaccidents]

Oh, and thank you very much! Cheers