isort

isort is an awesome open-source software that’s completely free! It’s written in Python and acts as a super handy plugin for text editors like Kate and Pate. If you’re a Python developer, this tool will help you sort your imports alphabetically, which is a real time-saver. Plus, it can automatically separate your Python imports into different sections!

What Does isort Do?

This plugin comes with a command-line utility, a Python library, and several plugins for various text editors. This means you can easily sort all your Python imports quickly! Currently, isort works with Python versions from 2.6 to 3.4 and uses the pies tool to style your imports nicely without messy code.

See the Difference!

Let’s look at how your Python imports might appear without using the isort plugin:

from my_lib import Object

print("Hey")

import os

from my_lib import Object3

from my_lib import Object2

import sys

from third_party import lib15, lib1, lib2, lib3, lib4, lib5,

library6, lib7, lib8,

library9, library10,

library11,

library12,

library13,

library14

import sys

from __future__ import absolute_import

from third_party import lib3

printf("yo")

The Clean Look with isort

Now let’s see how that same code looks after applying the isort plugin on Kate or Pate editors:

from __future__ import absolute_import

import os

import sys

from third_party import (lib1, lib2,

lib3,

lib4,

lib5,

lib6,

lib7,

lib8,

lib9,

lib10,

lib11,

lib12,

lib13,

lib14)

from my_lib import Object, Object2, Object3

print("Hey")
(print("yo"))

Your Go-To Plugin!

The isort plugin is entirely built in Python and works perfectly with the Kate (KDE 4.13 or later) and Pate 2.0 or higher text editors. You can download it as a universal source archive that you'll need to configure and compile before