Problem
You want history and TAB completion in your default Python shell. You are aware of bpython and ipython, but you miss this functionality in the default shell.

Solution
Edit ~/.bashrc:

# ~/.bashrc
export PYTHONSTARTUP=$HOME/.pythonstartup.py

Download pythonstartup.py from here and rename it to ~/.pythonstartup.py.

“bpython is a fancy interface to the Python interpreter for Unix-like operating systems (I hear it works fine on OS X). It is released under the MIT License. It has the following features:

• In-line syntax highlighting.
• Readline-like autocomplete with suggestions displayed as you type.
• Expected parameter list for any Python function.
• “Rewind” function to pop the last line of code from memory and re-evaluate.
• Send the code you’ve entered off to a pastebin.
• Save the code you’ve entered to a file.
• Auto-indentation.
• Python 3 support.

For more, see our about-page or just skip right to the screenshots.”

Installation

sudo apt-get install bpython

Tip: add the following line to your ~/.bashrc file:

alias bpy='bpython'

Then you can start the bpython interpreter with “p“. Short and simple :)

Alternatives

• classic “python” interpreter
• ipython

“IPython is an interactive shell for the Python programming language that offers enhanced introspection, additional shell syntax, syntax highlighting, tab completion and rich history. It is a component of the SciPy package.” (source)

Links:

• FrontPage – IPython (the HQ)
• IPython: A System for Interactive Scientific Computing (article, PDF)
• Cookbook – IPython
• IPython mailing list

In the book Python for Unix and Linux System Administration, there is a long chapter (Ch. 2) dedicated to IPython!

Installation and usage
Install it via apt-get:

sudo apt-get install ipython

I made the alias “ip” for the command “ipython”. Note that there is a command “ip” for manipulating routing and tunnels that the alias will hide, but it’s not likely I’ll ever use that command.

alias ip='ipython'

The config file of IPython is located at ~/.ipython/ipy_user_conf.py.

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