Even a stable version has quirks. Here’s what to watch for:
| Limitation | Workaround | |------------|-------------| | No Python 3.8+ support | Use a virtual environment with Python 3.7 or lower. | | Git SSH on Windows fails with OpenSSH | Switch to built-in SSH executable or use HTTPS. | | Slow Docker tooling (absent) | Use command-line Docker or Portainer instead. | | Markdown preview not rendering | Install free Markdown plugin from JetBrains plugin repo (still works). | | No remote Jupyter notebooks | Run Jupyter locally and connect via browser, not within IDE. |
Security advisory: This version uses an older JetBrains Runtime (JBR) based on Java 8. Do not open untrusted projects if you are on a public network, as some older Java deserialization vulnerabilities exist.
PyCharm CE 2018.3.7 maintained modest system requirements compared to modern IDEs. jetbrains pycharm community edition 2018.3.7
| Component | Minimum Requirement | Recommended | |-----------|--------------------|--------------| | RAM | 2 GB | 4 GB or more | | Disk Space | 1.5 GB | 2.5 GB (with caches) | | OS | Windows 7/8/10, macOS 10.9+, Linux (Gnome/KDE) | 64-bit OS | | Java | JRE 1.8 bundled | Same | | Python | 2.7, 3.4 – 3.7 | Python 3.6+ |
Installation was straightforward via executable installers (Windows), DMG packages (macOS), or tarball (Linux). No license activation was required for the Community Edition.
Tests were conducted on a 2018 mid-range laptop: Intel Core i5-8250U, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, Windows 10, Python 3.7.2. Even a stable version has quirks
| Operation | Observed Time (seconds) | |-----------|--------------------------| | Cold start (first launch) | 12–15 | | Warm start (subsequent) | 4–6 | | Open medium project (10k lines) | 2–3 | | Code completion latency | <100 ms | | Full project re-index | 8–12 |
Memory footprint: ~450–600 MB idle, rising to ~800 MB during indexing.
Observation: Version 2018.3.7 performed efficiently for its era. The lack of background inspections (compared to 2020+ versions) reduced CPU load, making it suitable for lower-powered machines. PyCharm CE 2018
Some universities and coding bootcamps standardize on 2018.3.7 because:
tar -xzf pycharm-community-2018.3.7.tar.gz -C ~/opt/
cd ~/opt/pycharm-community-2018.3.7/bin/
./pycharm.sh
Create a desktop entry via Tools → Create Desktop Entry.