How to install Pycharm on Debian 11

Developed by JetBrains, the same company behind IntelliJ IDEA,PycharmIt is one of the most used IDEs (Integrated Development Environment) to develop Python applications. It is a feature-rich IDE that includes all the features you need to write and debug your Python code. Creates a virtual environment that you can use to run code.

Pycharm is available in 3 editions: Community, Education and Professional. The Community Edition is absolutely free and open source and is constantly maintained by the developers. Education Edition provides a much simpler user interface and is based on Community Edition. The professional edition is a paid edition and offers extensive functionality, such as support for more languages and additional tools for web and database development.

In this guide, we will focus on installing Pycharm on Debian 11.

Option 1: Install Pycharm using snap

One of the easiest ways to install Pycharm is to use Snap. Snap is a software packaging and deployment tool developed by Canonical, the parent company of Ubuntu.

A plugin is a containerized application that bundles the application code along with its dependencies, libraries, source code, and configuration files. Snapshots are distribution independent and work on multiple distributions. The main advantage of using snapshots is that dependencies are well taken care of. As such, you won't have to worry about encountering dependency errors during an app installation. Snapshots are hosted onSnapcraftwhich is an instant store containing thousands of instant packs.

To begin, we need to install and enable the Snapd daemon first of all. This is a service that allows you to manage snapshots on your system. Next, we will use snap to install the Pycharm application.

First, update the package lists

$ sudo apt update

Then install snapd as follows:

$ sudo apt install snapd

Once installed, enable the snapd daemon.

$ sudo systemctl enable snapd ?-now

It is advisable to enable classic plugin support which might be required by packages that might need to be released from the plugin packaged application and acquire full system access just like other traditional packages. To enable classic plugin support, run the command:

$ sudo ln -s /var/lib/snapd/ /snap

Also, install the core files.

$ sudo snap install core

Next, restart the snapd daemon.

$ sudo systemctl restart snapd

Then check your status as follows.

$ sudo systemctl status snapd

From the output, you can see that snapd is up and running.

The next step is to install Pycharm from Snap. There are three editions of Pycharm: Community, Educational, and Professional.

For this guide, we will install the Community Edition, which is free and open source. Therefore, run:

$ sudo snap install pycharm-community --classic

Once the installation is complete, you will get the following output.

For Education edition, run the command:

$ sudo snap install pycharm-professional --classic

For Professional edition, run the command:

$ sudo snap install pycharm-educational --classic

At this point, Pycharm has been successfully installed. However, the Pycharm icon will not be available until the next reboot. Therefore, reboot your system.

$ sudo reboot

USE:

While snapshots are a convenient way to install software applications, they take up a considerable amount of disk space compared to installing software packages from official repositories using traditional package managers such as APT and DNF. However, the trade-off is regular updates and packages that are constantly maintained.

You can update all snap packages in the future using the simple command:

$ sudo snap refresh

Option 2: Install Pycharm from Flatpak

The second option is to install Pycharm from Flatpak. This is another universal package management utility that allows you to install and manage software packages without having to worry about dependencies. Like Snap, it is distribution agnostic and allows you to install software packages without having to worry about your Linux distribution. Flatpak applications run in isolation in an environment known as a sandbox that contains everything needed to run the specific application.

To use Flatpak, you must first install and enable Flatpak on your system. Therefore, we will start by installing Flatpak as follows:

$ sudo apt install flatpak

Once installed, go ahead and enable the Flatpak repository fromflat centerwhich is a Flatpak app store for Flatpak apps.

Flatpak only offers community and educational editions. But as always, the Community edition is always recommended especially for beginners.

To install Community Edition, run the command:

$ sudo flatpak install flathub com.jetbrains.PyCharm-Community

For Professional Edition, run the following command:

$ sudo flatpak install flathub com.jetbrains.PyCharm-Professional

Here are some sample results. MAKE SURE to press 'Y' for all prompts.

Pycharm Released

To start Pycharm, click 'Activities' in the top left corner of your desktop and search for 'Pycharm'. Click the icon to start Pycharm.

After a few seconds, you will get a pop-up GUI as shown. Accept the Terms of User Agreement and click'Continue' to continue with the installation.

Next, choose whether or not you want to anonymously share your app's data about features, plugin performance, etc. with Pycharm developers.

And finally, you will get the default Pycharm window. Click on 'Start tour' to familiarize yourself with the various features of Pycharm that you will soon begin to interact with.