TigerJython is an educational development environment for Python with enhanced error messages. It runs on the Java Virtual Machine and already includes Jython. If you have JRE installed, just download the JAR-file under release.
This is an early access version that is not yet ready for classroom use!!!
This version of TigerJython requires JRE version 11+ and will not run with JRE 8. One of the main reasons is that the JavaFX libraries used here requires an up-to-date Java version.
On the one hand, the overall design of the new TigerJython editor is based on our experience with previous versions of TigerJython and JEM. On the other hand, we are moving to incorporate new features and update the user experience to reflect modern standards.
Some key features include:
- Error messages: Enhanced error messages have always been one of the foremost core features of TigerJython and are also a crucial part of the new version. In addition to sophisticated error detection, the error messages are available in a range of different languages (and new languages can be added at any time).
- Batteries included: We adhere to Python's principle of "batteries included", which means that everything you need is already there. In our case the Python interpreter to run your code—Jython—is part of the TigerJython JAR, together with all the libraries, bells and whistles.
- Persistent user experience: With cloud computing and mobile apps that follow you everywhere you go, we are used to continue our work exactly where we left off. The new version of TigerJython will honour this standard so that you won't need to search for your code you had been working on.
- Simplicity: If you are looking for an IDE with powerful project management, TigerJython is not the IDE for you. We stick to the very basics: write code and run it.
- Customisability: As an educator or researcher you might be missing just the right functionality. With the new plugin system, you can just add with a few simple lines of Python code. For instance, simply install a new button that allows the students to direct submit their code to you.
- Flexibility: While Jython still is the backbone of TigerJython, you can equally use any other Python interpreter installed on your system.
You can write simple plugins for TigerJython. The plugins are written in Python and run using the internal Jython interpreter. On the one hand, plugins allow you to add additional tools and capabilities to TigerJython. On the other hand, plugins also support research on how students learn programming in that you can easily write a plugin that monitors keystrokes.
More information can be found in the Plugins Guide.
The TigerJython IDE has been presented in the paper Tell Me What's Wrong: A Python IDE with Error Messages as published at the SIGCSE Technical Symposium 2020. If you use TigerJython for academic work, please cite this paper:
@inproceedings{10.1145/3328778.3366920,
author = {Kohn, Tobias and Manaris, Bill},
title = {Tell Me What’s Wrong: A Python IDE with Error Messages},
year = {2020},
isbn = {9781450367936},
publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},
address = {New York, NY, USA},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366920},
doi = {10.1145/3328778.3366920},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education},
pages = {1054–1060},
numpages = {7},
keywords = {ide, compiler error messages, python},
location = {Portland, OR, USA},
series = {SIGCSE ’20}
}
TigerJython uses sbt to build the code. Start sbt first and then use
compile to compile the code and assembly to generate a JAR file containing all the necessary
libraries (such as Scala, Jython, etc).
Note that this project depends on other sub-projects, which are included using symbolic links. If you
are running Windows, you might have to manually replace the links in the resources directory with the
text files, etc. used for display. There are three major sub-projects:
Additionally, TigerJython also includes various libraries such as extended turtle graphics, etc. You can find some of these libraries on GitHub, but not all of them are open-sourced and generally available. Please contact the authors if you require a copy of the full TigerJython support libraries (note: the editor and Jython will run perfectly fine without these, but it will not provide the full functionality of TigerJython).
By placing additional JARs into the lib subfolder, you can have additional files integrated into the
project.
If you want to use standard Jython, you might want to add the following line to build.sbt:
libraryDependencies += "org.python" % "jython-standalone" % "2.7.2"
/configparser:a parser to read and process configuration files as used in TigerJython 2. This is mostly for backward compatibility and to allow for manual configuration. These configuration files are no longer used by TigerJython itself to save preferences./core:contains the object/method that is invoked when starting the application as well as handling of preferences and providing utilities to access system information./errorhandling:as the name says: specialised error handling for Python./execute:programs are no longer executed directly in the IDE process, but rather a new process is created in which the program is then run. This allows to also target various interpreters installed on the system or even remote devices./files:the core of the storage system that replaces traditional file management./jython:TigerJython-specific extensions to Jython. This will eventually be folded directly into a custom version of Jython./microbit:support for the BBC Micro:bit and the Calliope Mini. The code for flashing the Microbit was heavily inspired by Nicholas Tollervey'suFlash, although with various adaptations./plugins:the plugin support allowing to write and install plugins into the IDE. The plugins themselves are written in Python (they may call into other Java-code, of course)./remote:the engine to communicate with another instance of TigerJython./syntaxsupport:the syntax highlighter for Python code. It works on several levels: first, the entire program is tokenised (split into tokens). Second, the tokens are then grouped to form logical lines, allowing to determine scope, for instance. Third, based on these logical lines, the input is parsed enough to extract relevant information for syntax highlighting. The parsing, however, is incomplete: its purpose is not to find possible errors in the program code, but rather to determine the correct highlighting of names/identifiers in particular. It also provides enough information about the program to extract imported modules or support auto inserting of closing parentheses and string delimiters./ui:the user interface and thus one of the core parts of TigerJython./utils:various helper tools.
Who is behind TigerJython? The first version of TigerJython was written by Tobias Kohn, Aegidius Pluss and Jarka Arnold, together with extensive tutorials for learning and using Python, such as the one available on TigerJython.ch. As it was quickly adopted throughout Europe, the team founded an non-profit association ("Verein" under Swiss law) TigerJython-Group, which now officially maintains the IDE, the Python libraries and tutorials, and regularly develops and publishes new materials.
The team is also collaborating with institutions such as ETH Zurich and PH Graubünden, leading to new developments, including the Web Version of TigerJython.
As we strongly believe that quality education must be accessible to everyone, we provide all our materials free of charge. This is made possible not only through the great efforts of our members, but also thanks to our sponsor Klett and Balmer Publishers.