Which AI tool is best for writing and debugging Python code?

Question

honestly im so done with chatgpt for my python stuff lately its like it just forgot how to code or something? i spent three hours last night trying to get a simple web scraper to work for my local hobby project tracking vintage keyboard prices here in seattle and it kept suggesting libraries that dont even exist or it would give me the same broken code five times in a row even after i told it exactly where the error was! im actually kinda hyped though because i keep seeing people talk about cursor or claude 3.5 sonnet being way better for actual logic and debugging instead of just yapping. my budget is like 20 or 30 bucks a month max so i dont mind paying for a sub but it has to actually work and not make me want to throw my laptop out the window. i need something that can look at my whole folder structure not just one file at a time because my project is getting kinda messy with all the imports and stuff.

cursor (is it really that good?)

claude (seen a lot of hype on twitter lately)

maybe github copilot?

so yeah what are you guys actually using right now that doesnt suck for debugging and writing python from scratch? i really need to finish this scraper by monday or i'm gonna lose it...

Josephzoode · Accepted Answer

man i went through the exact same thing trying to build a custom dashboard for my home lab last month. chatgpt kept giving me these ancient libraries that werent even supported anymore and it was driving me crazy. i finally bit the bullet and tried Anysphere Cursor AI Code Editor and it honestly feels like magic compared to the old way. it fixed my broken imports in like two seconds because it actually indexes your entire project folder. im super satisfied with how it handles context...

codebase indexing means it knows your file structure better than you do sometimes.

i paired it with the Anthropic Claude 3.5 Sonnet model and the logic is just way more on point.

debugging is fast because you can just highlight the error and it sees the surrounding files. i havent had a single hallucinated library since switching tbh. definitely worth the sub if you want to finish that scraper by monday.

odpxzttvti · Answer

honestly been around the block with these tools and GitHub Copilot Individual Subscription is still the most reliable for python imo. it handles imports and folder structures way better than web-only tools. i also recommend JetBrains PyCharm Professional Edition if you want deep code analysis. copilot is fast but pycharm actually understands the logic of your whole project. cursor is cool but feels a bit buggy compared to these two.

DonaldCoeva · Answer

I hit a wall with Python hallucinations during a big data project last year. Moving to developer-centric platforms changed everything since they actually respect your directory structure.

Context window management is superior

Logic execution remains consistent Any plan from Codeium should work fine. The pro tier fits your budget and you really cant go wrong with their context handling. Just make sure to index your workspace first.