Need advice about which tool to choose?Ask the StackShare community!

PyCharm

27.3K
23.2K
+ 1
451
SourceTree

10.4K
7.9K
+ 1
727
Add tool

PyCharm vs SourceTree: What are the differences?

Introduction

PyCharm and SourceTree are two popular software tools used in software development. While PyCharm is an integrated development environment (IDE) specifically designed for Python programming, SourceTree is a graphical user interface (GUI) client for Git repositories. Both tools serve different purposes and have distinct features and functionalities. In this Markdown code, we will highlight the key differences between PyCharm and SourceTree.

  1. Version Control Support: PyCharm provides built-in support for version control systems like Git, Mercurial, and Subversion. It allows developers to perform various version control operations directly within the IDE, such as committing changes, merging branches, and resolving conflicts. On the other hand, SourceTree primarily focuses on Git and provides advanced Git-related features like visualizing and managing branches, initiating and reviewing pull requests, and handling Git workflows. While PyCharm offers a broader range of version control system support, SourceTree excels in Git-specific functionality.

  2. Code Assistance and Navigation: PyCharm offers powerful code assistance and navigation features specifically tailored for Python development. It provides intelligent code completion, code analysis, and quick fixes for coding errors. Additionally, PyCharm includes advanced debugging capabilities and supports running and managing unit tests. SourceTree, being a Git client, does not provide extensive code assistance or debugging features but focuses on efficiently visualizing and interacting with Git repositories.

  3. User Interface: Both PyCharm and SourceTree have distinct user interfaces. PyCharm features a comprehensive IDE layout with various panels, tool windows, and project views. It provides a workspace for coding, debugging, and managing projects with a wide range of customizable options. SourceTree, on the other hand, has a simpler interface primarily focused on Git-related operations. It offers a clean and intuitive layout with visualizations of branch history, commit graphs, and file changes.

  4. Integration with Other Tools: PyCharm seamlessly integrates with a wide range of third-party tools commonly used in Python development, such as virtual environments, package managers like pip, and build automation tools like Docker and pytest. It also supports popular frameworks like Django and Flask, offering specific features for their development. SourceTree is mainly focused on Git integration and does not provide direct integrations with other programming tools or frameworks.

  5. Collaboration and Teamwork: PyCharm offers features for collaborative development, allowing multiple developers to work on the same codebase simultaneously. It supports version control operations like merging, resolving conflicts, and code reviews. PyCharm also provides built-in support for remote development and deployment, enabling teams to work on remote servers effortlessly. SourceTree, although primarily focused on individual Git workflows, supports collaboration through features like creating and reviewing pull requests and integrating with online Git hosting platforms like Bitbucket and GitHub.

  6. Platform Compatibility and Pricing: PyCharm is available for multiple platforms, including Windows, macOS, and Linux, ensuring compatibility across different operating systems. It offers different licensing options, including a free Community Edition and a paid Professional Edition with advanced features. SourceTree, being a Git client, is also available for Windows and macOS platforms. It is free to use and does not require any license.

In summary, PyCharm and SourceTree differ in terms of version control support, code assistance and navigation, user interface, integration with other tools, collaboration features, platform compatibility, and pricing. While PyCharm provides a comprehensive IDE for Python development with broader version control system support and extensive code assistance, SourceTree excels in Git-related functionality, offering a specialized GUI for managing Git repositories.

Advice on PyCharm and SourceTree
christy craemer
Needs advice
on
EclipseEclipseIntelliJ IDEAIntelliJ IDEA
and
PyCharmPyCharm

UPDATE: Thanks for the great response. I am going to start with VSCode based on the open source and free version that will allow me to grow into other languages, but not cost me a license ..yet.

I have been working with software development for 12 years, but I am just beginning my journey to learn to code. I am starting with Python following the suggestion of some of my coworkers. They are split between Eclipse and IntelliJ IDEA for IDEs that they use and PyCharm is new to me. Which IDE would you suggest for a beginner that will allow expansion to Java, JavaScript, and eventually AngularJS and possibly mobile applications?

See more
Replies (12)
Recommends
on
Visual Studio CodeVisual Studio Code

Pycharm is great for python development, but can feel sometimes slow and community version has Somme very annoying restrictions (like they disabled jupyter notebooks plugin and made it premium feature). I personally started looking into VS Code as an alternative, and it has some very good potential. I suggest you take it into account.

See more
Recommends
on
PyCharmPyCharm

The Community version of PyCharm is free and should give you what you need to get started with Python. Both PyCharm and IntelliJ are made by JetBrains. IntelliJ is initially focused on Java but you can get plugins for lots of other things. I subscribe to JetBrains' Toolbox: https://www.jetbrains.com/toolbox-app/ and have access to all of their great tools.

See more
Recommends
on
Visual Studio CodeVisual Studio Code

Hi, I will give my opinion based on my experience. I have used PyCharm, both community and Professional version. The community has limited functions, like you can't use a Jupyter notebook whereas it's available in the Professional version. PyCharm is slower compared to Visual Studio Code. Also Visual Studio Code is an editor which supports various languages. I myself have used both Visual Studio Code and PyCharm. I feel Visual Studio Code would be better choice. You may as well decide based upon your requirements.

See more
Charles Nelson
Recommends
on
IntelliJ IDEAIntelliJ IDEA

I couldn't imagine using a development tool other than the IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate All Products Pack. A single license allows me to work directly on my server running Ubuntu and/or my workstation running Windows 10 Pro simultaneously. My current project uses HTML, W3CSS, JavaScript, Java, Groovy, Grails, C, GO, Python, Flask, and Rust. For me it's worth every penny of the $150 license fee. And you can try it for free.

See more
Ivan Martinez Morales
Software Engineer Intern · | 4 upvotes · 663.4K views
Recommends
on
Visual Studio CodeVisual Studio Code

I'd personally recommend Visual Studio Code as it gives you the flexibility of working in any language, so long as there are extensions to support it. It gives you the flexibility to learn Python, venture into Java, Javascript, and eventually AngularJS, and potentially mobile applications. It's also free and you can install it on your personal computer. I think Visual Studio Code would serve your intended use case best.

See more
awesomebanana2018
Recommends
on
Visual Studio CodeVisual Studio Code

Visual Studio code is easy to use, has a good UI, and a large community. Python works great with it, but unlike some other editors, it works with most languages either by default or by downloading a plugin. VS Code has built in linting, syntax coloring, autocompletes (IntelliSense), and an api for plugins to do there own tooling.

See more
Isaac Povey
Casual Software Engineer at Skedulo · | 3 upvotes · 663.5K views
Recommends
on
IntelliJ IDEAIntelliJ IDEA

IntelliJ really is the best for Java, I switched from eclipse years ago and never looked back. As for javascript, python and angular either using the standalone products from jetbrains (pycharm for python, webstorm for js) or installing the relevant plugins for InteliJ will be your best bet. Pycharm etc. are really just InteliJ with some additional plugins installed.

See more
Pranshu Verma
Engineer at Cisco Systems · | 3 upvotes · 663.5K views
Recommends
on
PyCharmPyCharm

If you starting with Python then PyCharm is better. For Java I would suggest to go with IntelliJ IDEA but people also prefer eclipse so I would say try both and then decide. For JS/Angular/React I would suggest go with VSCode. I personally use it and prefer as its light weight and have good integration with chrome for frontend development.

PyCharm, IntelliJ IDEA are both products of JetBrains. They have a free (limited feature) and paid edition. Eclipse is free. VSCode is also free.

See more
Recommends
on
PyCharmPyCharm

All three are great, however, I believe that IntelliJ IDEA's multiple IDE's are slightly more straight-forward and more up-to date than Eclipse. If I had to choose one specifically for Python projects I would go with PyCharm.

See more
Recommends
on
PyCharmPyCharm

Pycharm is all you need to get start coding in python or any of its framework. Its an awesome tool you should give it a try :)

See more
Pritam Nandy
Engineering Manager at Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited · | 1 upvotes · 610.9K views
Recommends
on
PyCharmPyCharm

This is a very easy to use tool and gives you the opportunity to start coding right after the installation with almost everything setup automatically by the tool.

See more
Brian Turner
System Architect at Mary's Watch, Inc. · | 1 upvotes · 663.4K views
Recommends
on
IntelliJ IDEAIntelliJ IDEA

Easy to learn and everything you need

See more
Decisions about PyCharm and SourceTree
Samriddhi Sinha
Machine Learning Engineer at Chefling · | 6 upvotes · 975.3K views

Lightweight and versatile. Huge library of extensions that enable you to integrate a host of services to your development environment. VS Code's biggest strength is its library of extensions which enables it to directly compete with every single major IDE for almost all major programming languages.

See more

I explored many Git Desktop tools for the Mac and my final decision was to use Fork. What I love about for that it contains three features, I like about a Git Client tool.

It allows * to handle day to day git operations (least important for me as I am cli junkie) * it helps to investigate the history * most important of all, it has a repo manager which many other tools are missing.

See more
Get Advice from developers at your company using StackShare Enterprise. Sign up for StackShare Enterprise.
Learn More
Pros of PyCharm
Pros of SourceTree
  • 112
    Smart auto-completion
  • 93
    Intelligent code analysis
  • 77
    Powerful refactoring
  • 60
    Virtualenv integration
  • 54
    Git integration
  • 22
    Support for Django
  • 11
    Multi-database integration
  • 7
    VIM integration
  • 4
    Vagrant integration
  • 3
    In-tool Bash and Python shell
  • 2
    Plugin architecture
  • 2
    Docker
  • 1
    Django Implemented
  • 1
    Debug mode support docker
  • 1
    Emacs keybinds
  • 1
    Perforce integration
  • 205
    Visual history and branch view
  • 164
    Beautiful UI
  • 134
    Easy repository browsing
  • 87
    Gitflow support
  • 75
    Interactive stage or discard by hunks or lines
  • 22
    Great branch visualization
  • 18
    Ui/ux and user-friendliness
  • 8
    Best Git Client UI/Features
  • 7
    Search commit messages
  • 5
    Available for Windows and macOS
  • 1
    Log only one file
  • 1
    Search file content

Sign up to add or upvote prosMake informed product decisions

Cons of PyCharm
Cons of SourceTree
  • 10
    Slow startup
  • 7
    Not very flexible
  • 6
    Resource hog
  • 3
    Periodic slow menu response
  • 1
    Pricey for full features
  • 12
    Crashes often
  • 8
    So many bugs
  • 7
    Fetching is slow sometimes
  • 5
    No dark theme (Windows)
  • 5
    Extremely slow
  • 5
    Very unstable
  • 4
    Can't select text in diff (windows)
  • 3
    Freezes quite frequently
  • 3
    Can't scale window from top corners
  • 2
    UI blinking
  • 2
    Windows version worse than mac version
  • 2
    Installs to AppData folder (windows)
  • 2
    Diff makes tab indentation look like spaces
  • 2
    Windows and Mac versions are very different
  • 2
    Diff appears as if space indented even if its tabs
  • 2
    Doesn't have an option for git init
  • 2
    Useless for merge conflict resolution
  • 2
    Doesn't differentiate submodules from parent repos
  • 2
    Requires bitbucket account
  • 1
    Generally hard to like
  • 1
    No reflog support
  • 1
    Bases binary check on filesize
  • 1
    Can't add remotes by right clicking remotes (windows)

Sign up to add or upvote consMake informed product decisions

What is PyCharm?

PyCharm’s smart code editor provides first-class support for Python, JavaScript, CoffeeScript, TypeScript, CSS, popular template languages and more. Take advantage of language-aware code completion, error detection, and on-the-fly code fixes!

What is SourceTree?

Use the full capability of Git and Mercurial in the SourceTree desktop app. Manage all your repositories, hosted or local, through SourceTree's simple interface.

Need advice about which tool to choose?Ask the StackShare community!

What companies use PyCharm?
What companies use SourceTree?
See which teams inside your own company are using PyCharm or SourceTree.
Sign up for StackShare EnterpriseLearn More

Sign up to get full access to all the companiesMake informed product decisions

What tools integrate with PyCharm?
What tools integrate with SourceTree?

Sign up to get full access to all the tool integrationsMake informed product decisions

What are some alternatives to PyCharm and SourceTree?
Atom
At GitHub, we're building the text editor we've always wanted. A tool you can customize to do anything, but also use productively on the first day without ever touching a config file. Atom is modern, approachable, and hackable to the core. We can't wait to see what you build with it.
IntelliJ IDEA
Out of the box, IntelliJ IDEA provides a comprehensive feature set including tools and integrations with the most important modern technologies and frameworks for enterprise and web development with Java, Scala, Groovy and other languages.
Jupyter
The Jupyter Notebook is a web-based interactive computing platform. The notebook combines live code, equations, narrative text, visualizations, interactive dashboards and other media.
Visual Studio Code
Build and debug modern web and cloud applications. Code is free and available on your favorite platform - Linux, Mac OSX, and Windows.
Anaconda
A free and open-source distribution of the Python and R programming languages for scientific computing, that aims to simplify package management and deployment. Package versions are managed by the package management system conda.
See all alternatives