(Python) Setting nano up for Python scripting

There are much better IDEs for Python than using nano if you are doing app development. For quick hacks though nano works great. With a few tweaks it can be a much better experience.

For Python code the recommended spacing is to use:

Per the PEP: https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0008/#indentation

• Spaces are the preferred indentation method (Avoid using tabs).
• Use 4 spaces per indentation level.
• Limit all lines to a maximum of 79 characters (we dont fix this here)

I use nano all the time (convenience) but the default is an 8 space tab.

You can set it each time from using the nano arguments

nano -$ -clET 4 <filename.txt>

• -$ = Enable soft line wrapping
• -c  = Constantly show cursor position
• -l = Show line numbers in front of text
• -E =  Convert typed tabs to spaces
• -T  <#cols> = Set width of a tab to #cols columns

or this can be permanently reset in the system nanorc file and just work when you launch nano:

nano /etc/nanorc

• set tabsize 4
• set tabstospaces
• set constentshow
• set linenumbers
• set softwrap