Positron

A new IDE for Data Science


SoCal RUG
July 18th, 2024
Emil Hvitfeldt

What is Positron?

  • A next-generation data science IDE built by Posit PBC
  • An extensible, polyglot tool for writing code and exploring data
  • A familiar environment for reproducible authoring and publishing

https://github.com/posit-dev/positron

Is Positron for me?

Positron is an early stage project under active development and may not yet be a good fit for you. If you are interested in experimenting with it, we welcome your feedback!

https://github.com/posit-dev/positron/wiki#is-positron-for-me

Good fit if

  • you use VS Code for data science (Python or R) but wish it included a dedicated console, variables pane, data explorer, and other affordances for your data-specific work.
  • you use Jupyterlab for data science (Python or R) and are ready for a more powerful, fully-featured IDE.
  • you use RStudio and want more ability to customize or extend your IDE.
  • you use additional languages in your day-to-day data science or package development work, like Rust, C++, JavaScript, or Lua.

https://github.com/posit-dev/positron/wiki#is-positron-for-me

Bad fit if?

  • you need stable, polished software. Positron is still in beta, and some features are unstable or unfinished.
  • you need all the features of the RStudio IDE. Positron doesn’t have all RStudio’s features; some notable absences are inline output for Quarto and R Markdown, profiling, Sweave, RStudio Add-In support, etc.
  • you use remote development features (e.g. dev containers, remote SSH); these are not supported in Positron yet. However, providing tools for Remote SSH is on our roadmap.

https://github.com/posit-dev/positron/wiki#is-positron-for-me

Showcase checklist

Reminder! Positron just entered open Beta