Add more IDE features to Pro Notebooks

[AllenDailey1]

Add more helpful IDE functionality to Python Notebooks within ArcGIS Pro, such as automatic error detection, suggestions when you begin to type a variable that you have already created, suggestion dropdowns containing possible function or property names when you type a module or class etc.

I'm using Pro 3.3 and Notebooks doesn't have any of this; its functionality in terms of these things is no better than IDLE, with the small addition of automatically adding the closing quotation mark or parenthesis when I type the opening one.

I find this surprising, since at conferences and in documentation, Esri has been promoting Pro Notebooks as a Python development environment for a long time already.  Yet without functionalities like other IDEs like PyCharm, I basically have no incentive to use Notebooks in Pro.  

If there's a plan to add more features, I'd be interested to hear about it.

Thank you for your consideration!

[HannesZiegler]

Hi @AllenDailey1 , Notebooks in ArcGIS Pro are based on open-source JupyterLab notebooks, so all these features are implemented by the Jupiter community. We integrate notebooks into ArcGIS Pro so users can run and author their notebooks here, but with some pieces pared down and some additional customization for interacting with ArcGIS Pro on top. You can read more about it in our documentation and in the FAQ.

Notebooks provide another modality to work with code that is intentionally different from an IDE, combining elements of an interactive terminal and a document. While Notebooks do have features that make them useful for working with code, the expectation for users with sufficiently complex code and workflows is to use additional tools like IDEs to work with their code. While there is some functional overlap, the design choices are different, with Notebooks providing a reproducible linear execution workflow but not some of the rich capabilities of a modern IDE. Notebooks are part of a project, so can be open side-by-side with a map, perform interactive visualization and analysis, and be shared with users who may not be comfortable with working in an IDE.

In terms of features you'd like to see if you were to adopt notebooks in your workflows, is there anything that you think are particularly useful other than better autocompletion?

[AllenDailey1]

@HannesZiegler , hello and thanks for your comment.

That's interesting and useful information.  I've attended many Notebooks-related sessions at the UC and Dev Summit, but I had never heard that Esri was imagining that users would develop code in a separate IDE (if the code was complex).  This makes sense to me the way you explained it, but I just didn't know that was the intention, because I didn't see any of this in the presentations.  In that case, with Notebooks not being meant to be like a full IDE, I'm okay with keeping them how they are.  My go-to has been to develop code (and execute it) with PyCharm, so I will mainly stick to that.  I don't typically need to interact with maps/visualizations with Python in the ways that Esri showcases in their presentations, so maybe I don't need to get into Notebooks very much.  (I mostly use Python for data management and wrangling.)  Regardless, it's good to know Esri's perspective on usage of Notebooks.  

Thank you!

[HannesZiegler]

Yea, if you're mainly writing production code, it would make sense to stick to an IDE. Notebooks really shine for prototyping and exposition - think experimentation, troubleshooting, recording and reproducing (automating) workflows with explanations all in one document, analyzing and reporting with graphs and sharing these, etc. I like to think of it as a terminal session that I can edit, reorder, explain, analyze, visualize, and save in a document for later or to share with others.

We will keep your feedback in mind - we do have some ideas for notebooks in ArcGIS Pro that we want to explore further, so your input has been valuable.

I will go ahead and close this idea now, thank you for your feedback and quick reply!