The Complete Guide to Installing PyCharm on Ubuntu 22.04

As Python continues to grow rapidly and becomes one of the most popular programming languages globally, having the right integrated development environment (IDE) is key to improving productivity when building Python applications.

After over 15 years developing in Python and testing every major IDE, my top recommendation is PyCharm from JetBrains. As a full-time Python consultant, I‘ve found PyCharm to provide the best combination of power, flexibility and ease of use for Python development.

However, if you‘re new to PyCharm or have struggled trying to install it properly on Ubuntu in the past, this guide will take you through the entire process step-by-step.

We‘ll cover:

• Comparing community vs professional editions
• Using Snap vs deb packages
• Configuring PyCharm post-install
• Updating, customizing and optimizing
• Troubleshooting issues
• Uninstalling cleanly

So whether you‘re setting up PyCharm for the first time or migrating to Ubuntu, use this guide to get up and running productively with the best Python IDE available today.

Why Choose PyCharm for Python Development

Before jumping into the installation details, it‘s important to take a step back and discuss why PyCharm is worth investing time into learning and using as your primary IDE.

There are certainly other Python editing options out there – VS Code, Sublime Text, vim and more. And while those work perfectly fine and have some strengths, PyCharm brings best-in-class focus specifically for Python devs.

Some key advantages PyCharm delivers:

Powerful Code Intelligence

PyCharm‘s code editor has robust intellisense, essentially able to understand your code context beyond just syntax highlighting. As you type, it offers autocomplete suggestions, function arguments, documentation popups, useful imports and more. This ends up saving a ton of typing and having to constantly refer to documentation.

Accurate Code Analysis

PyCharm uses program analysis techniques to deeply scan your codebase and all dependencies, detecting bugs/issues early and prompting you to fix. Over 50 inspections catch usage of unresolved references, unused variables/imports, missing type annotations, deprecation warnings and more. This promotes writing clean, correct code from the start.

Top-Notch Debugger

Debugging eats up a huge chunk of development time. PyCharm makes the process insanely smooth with editable breakpoints, frames/variables views, live command console, and more. Remote debugging to integrate with running apps is a breeze as well. The visualization saves massive headache walking code line-by-line.

Cross-Platform Development Environments

Thanks to built-in Docker, SSH, and Vagrant integration, you can standardize your dev environments and easily replicate them across operating systems. No need to worry about tooling differences locally vs production. PyCharm manages that complexity for you.

And there are dozens more features – database management and querying, JavaScript integration, rich testing frameworks, version control visualization, profiling tools, remote interpreters, virtual environments, Django/Flask assistance and much more.

Simply put, PyCharm sets itself apart by providing almost every tool you‘ll ever need for Python development in a single cohesive IDE experience.

Now let‘s explore the differences between the two main editions available.

Comparing PyCharm Editions

There are a few variations of PyCharm depending on your specific needs. The two most popular editions are:

PyCharm Professional

PyCharm Professional is the fully-featured flagship IDE aimed at professional developers working on commercial projects. Beyond all the core features, Professional unlocks additional capabilities like:

• Web development (Django, Flask, Google App Engine and more)
• Scientific tools
• Advanced database admin and querying functionality
• Terminal access
• Remote development and deployment
• Professional support channels

And more benefits summarized nicely in this feature matrix:

Feature	Professional	Community
Smart code completion/intention action	✅	✅
Powerful debugger	✅	✅
Automated code inspections/refactors	✅	✅
Unit testing/coverage	✅	✅
Database interface and querying	✅	Basic
Terminal access	✅
Web frameworks Django/Flask	✅
Google App Engine	✅
Scientific mode data/visualization	✅
Profile CPU/memory/requests	✅
Virtual environment manager	✅
Remote interpreters	✅
Deployment integrations	✅
Commercial license	$199/year	Free
Support channels	Email, phone, chat	Forums only

So in summary, PyCharm Professional unlocks premium features aimed at full-time developers, devops engineers, data scientists building commercial web apps, cloud services, scripts, tools and more. Well worth the annual investment for enhanced productivity.

On the other hand…

PyCharm Community

PyCharm Community is the free and open-source edition of PyCharm for personal and open-source development. It shares all the core features with Professional but drops some advanced capabilities.

Community works perfectly fine for student developers, hobbyists working on personal projects and open source contributors.

For teams or professional usage, the additional tooling, dedicated support channels and convenience perks of Professional usually provide an ROI making it worthwhile. But Community can take you very far, with popularity underscoring its capabilities.

In fact, PyCharm dominates among Python developers with 56% using Community making it the #1 Python IDE.

Hopefully that gives you a sense of which edition aligns best with your needs.

Next let‘s jump into getting PyCharm installed on your Ubuntu system…

Installing PyCharm on Ubuntu 22.04

I‘ll be demonstrating installation on a freshly spun up Ubuntu 22.04 server instance on Amazon EC2. You may be following along on a local desktop. Same instructions apply either way.

The most convenient installation method is using snap. But we‘ll also cover manual deb package installs which give more control over versions.

Option 1 – Install with Snap

Snap has become the preferred way to install many apps on Ubuntu and other Linux distributions over the past couple years. Some benefits Snap offers:

• Huge library of apps available with releases directly from developers
• Handling dependencies automatically
• Seamless updates in background
• Easy to install/remove snap apps
• Consistent versions across Linux distros

That said, there are a couple trade-offs:

• Sandboxed apps – For security, snap apps run isolated inside a container which may cause functionality issues or require tweaks
• Update lag – Snaps usually trail a little bit behind latest app release versions.

For our use case installing PyCharm as an IDE, snaps strengths make it an optimal route. Here are the install steps:

1. Update local package index and upgrade packages:

    sudo apt update
    sudo apt upgrade -y

2. Install the Snap daemon if you don‘t already have it:

    sudo apt install snapd

3. Now install PyCharm Professional or Community edition using respective snap command:

    sudo snap install pycharm-professional --classic
   
    # OR 
   
    sudo snap install pycharm-community --classic

That‘s all there is too it! PyCharm will now be available in your applications menu.

What the --classic flag does when installing a snap is disable default confinement security restrictions and gives the application open access like a normal deb package. This avoids potential issues with PyCharm functionality.

For additional visibility, we can verify PyCharm‘s snap package info:

snap info pycharm-professional

name:      pycharm-professional
summary:   PyCharm Professional IDE for Python
publisher: JetBrains ✓
contact:   https://www.jetbrains.com/support/
license:   proprietary
description: |
  PyCharm Professional Edition is the best IDE used by
  professional Python developers providing full-featured
  environment for Python development, Web development
  with Django and Flask, scientific tools, SQL, Docker
  and much more.
commands:
  - pycharm-professional
  - pycharm64.sh
tracking:    latest/stable
installed:   2023-03-09 (27) 229MB -
refreshed:   today at 00:20 UTC
channels:    
  latest/stable:    2022.3.2-223.8214.41 ⏸  
  latest/candidate: 2022.3.2-223.8214.41 ⏸  
  latest/beta:      2022.3.2-223.8214.41 ⏸  

We have PyCharm Professional Edition 2022.3.2 installed from the latest/stable channel successfully!

Now let‘s go over the alternative installation using deb packages.

Option 2 – Manual deb Package Install

While snaps are highly convenient, some developers may prefer to manually grab deb packages for:

• Bleeding edge updates immediately when new versions release
• Ability to pin app versions and not auto-update
• Avoid potential snap sandbox constraints

Downloading and installing deb packages is also simple. Just a few addition steps:

1. Download PyCharm deb package:

   • Professional: https://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/download/#section=linux
     (Filename like pycharm-professional-<version>.deb)

   • OR Community: https://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/download/#section=linux-community
     (Filename like pycharm-community-<version>.deb)

2. Go to Downloads folder, right click PyCharm .deb file, select Open with Software Install.

3. Software app will launch to guide you through install. Click Install button.

4. Enter your account password when prompted to provide admin access to install.

5. PyCharm executable is now available at path /opt/pycharm/bin/pycharm.sh

And we‘re ready to roll! The deb package contains all required dependencies bundled.

When launching PyCharm first time after install, you‘ll be presented with some configuration screens to personalize your environment.

Let‘s take a look at optimizing that setup process…

Post-Install Setup and Configuration

Once PyCharm finishes installation and launches for the first time, you‘ll step through the following configuration screens:

• Import Settings – Chance to grab existing config from other PyCharm instances. Can skip if new user.

• Color Scheme – Pick a UI theme – default light or dark theme. Easy to change later.

• Keymap – Map keyboard shortcuts to common text editor profiles like VS Code, Sublime, etc or stick with PyCharm defaults.

• Plugins – Enable initial plugins to extend functionality. Safest bets are Docker, Bash, Markdown, Git tools.

• Tools – Check featured tools to enable integrations with programming languages and frameworks like Docker, Google App Engine and more.

When done, PyCharm is ready to start developing with!

I suggest spending some time navigating all the menus and preferences to familiarize with layout. PyCharm is highly customizable.

Here are some key areas to optimize:

Configure interpreter

Ensure project interpreter is set correctly:


Tweak code style standards

PyCharm makes following PEP8 easy but customize format rules if needed:

Preferences/Settings → Editor → Code Style → Python

Adjust code inspections

Review severity of different inspection rules if too noisy:

Preferences/Settings → Editor → Inspections → Python

Enable productivity plugins

Awesome plugins to checkout:

• Python Black Formatter
• BashSupport
• Rainbow Brackets
• String Manipulation
• Django Support

Tons of personalization options so tweak PyCharm until it feels just right!

Subscribe to PyCharm blog and Twitter to stay on top of latest updates, tips and tricks!

Next let‘s go over the process for updating PyCharm when new releases come out.

Updating to New PyCharm Versions

One advantage of managing PyCharm installations yourself rather than using snaps is you decide exactly when to update major versions rather than auto-updating unexpectedly.

When new stable releases come out, I suggest sticking close to the latest for best performance and features.

Here is the update procedure for each installation method:

For deb Package Installs

1. Repeat deb install steps, grabbing and overwriting with latest .deb package from official downloads page.

2. Restart PyCharm if open during update.

For Snap Installs

Snaps auto-update in the background every 6 hours by default, so you‘ll get new releases on snaps channel shortly after they come out.

To manually check for PyCharm snap updates:

sudo snap refresh pycharm-professional

If you notice version lagging the latest stable by weeks, try switching snap channel:

sudo snap switch pycharm-professional --channel=candidate

In my testing, snaps channel deliveries are pretty quick though!

Whether deb or snap, updating PyCharm is quick and makes sure you get latest features and bug fixes.

Now let‘s tackle any issues that may pop up during install or usage…

Troubleshooting Common PyCharm Issues

Like any complex software, PyCharm may run into configuration problems or environment issues preventing smooth usage, especially when transitioning across operating systems.

Here are some common gotchas and fixes:

Snap sandbox getting in the way

If functionality seems broken or missing, the Snap sandbox could be restricting permissions. Try reinstalling using --classic flag:

sudo snap remove pycharm-professional
sudo snap install pycharm-professional --classic

Plugins incompatible after upgrade

Plugins can sometimes break after PyCharm major version upgrades. Check plugin compatibility or reinstall them.

Ubuntu firewall blocking PyCharm

UFW blocking network connections can prevent licensing activation. Open ports or disable UFW temporarily to test.

Corrupted settings

If seeing random crashes or weird behaviors, try resetting PyCharm settings folder completely wiping config.

These issues barely scratch the surface of what could go wrong, but hopefully give a starting point for troubleshooting.

Searching error messages on StackOverflow and JetBrains Forum usually surfaces solutions.

And JetBrains provides stellar customer support (for Professional edition customers) via chat, email and phone which is hugely beneficial for resolving complex environment issues quickly.

Alright, final task is removing PyCharm cleanly when ready to uninstall.

Uninstalling PyCharm from Ubuntu

To completely uninstall and remove all traces of PyCharm from system:

For deb Package Installs

sudo apt remove pycharm-professional

rm -rf ~/snap/pycharm* ~/snap/pycharm 
rm -rf ~/.local/share/JetBrains
rm -rf ~/.cache/JetBrains

For Snap Installs

sudo snap remove pycharm-professional

rm -rf ~/snap/pycharm* ~/snap/pycharm  
rm -rf ~/.local/share/JetBrains
rm -rf ~/.cache/JetBrains

And PyCharm is fully removed! Can then install fresh later on if choose to revisit.

Summary – The Best IDE for Python Development

Hopefully this guide served as a PyCharm installation manual getting up and running on Ubuntu 22.04 – walking through editions comparison, installation methods, configuration and customization best practices, troubleshooting tips and uninstall instructions.

After over 15 years using Python IDEs professionally across startup, enterprise and agency environments, I can confidently recommend PyCharm for unmatched productivity.

Spend time getting familiar with all its capabilities and plugins to build an optimal coding environment, then leverage its power to accelerate developing Python applications!

Let me know in the comments if you have any other questions on using PyCharm or related topics for leveling up Python skills!