Installing Python

If you want to learn to program with Python using this tutorial, you need to try out the code examples. You can use a website like repl.it, but I highly recommend installing Python. That way you don't need to open a web browser just to write code, and you can work without an Internet connection.

It doesn't matter which operating system you use because Python runs great on Windows, Mac OSX, Linux and many other operating systems. However, installing and launching Python are done differently on different operating systems, so just follow your operating system's instructions.

Let's get started!

Downloading and installing Python

Windows

Installing Python on Windows is a lot like installing any other program.

1. Go to the official Python website.

2. Move your mouse over the blue Downloads button, but don't click it. Then click the button that downloads the latest version of Python.

3. Run the installer.

4. Make sure that the launcher gets installed and click Install Now.

   

Mac OSX

At the time of writing this, Macs don't come with a Python 3 and you need to install it yourself. It should be like installing any other program, but unfortunately I don't have better instructions because I don't have an up-to-date Mac and I have never installed Python on a Mac. If you would like to write better instructions, tell me.

Linux

You already have Python 3, there's no need to install anything. You may also have Python 2, but don't try to remove it. Some of your programs are probably written in Python 2, so removing Python 2 would break them.

Running Python

Next we'll learn to use the Python we just installed.

Windows

1. Open a PowerShell from your start menu or start screen.

2. Type py and press Enter. You should see something like this:

   

Other operating systems

1. Open a terminal. How exactly this is done depends on your operating system, but most operating systems have some way to search for programs. Search for a program called terminal and launch it.

2. Type python3 and press Enter. You should see something like this:

   

   Your terminal probably looks different than mine, it's OK.

Go ahead and write print("Hello World!") after the >>>, and then press Enter, and Python will respond with a classic greeting :)

When you're done type exit() and press Enter to get out of Python, and then close the terminal or PowerShell window.

The Editor

Python starts into a handy >>> prompt by default, and it's awesome for trying out how things work. But programmers spend most of their time writing programs into files instead of just writing little pieces of code on a prompt.

An editor lets you save code to files. There are many editors, and the choice of editor is a very personal thing. Each programmer has their own favorite editor that they tend to recommend to everyone. If you already know which editor you want to use, just set it up and skip the rest of this chapter. Otherwise keep reading.

Your computer probably came with an editor, but it probably lacks lots of important features because it isn't meant to be used for programming and you need a better editor. For example, Windows comes with Notepad but it's lacking many important features that make writing Python code easier. Python also comes with its own editor called IDLE, but it also lacks a few features (even though it's better than Notepad).

I recommend Porcupine because I made it and it's easy to use. Click here to install it.

Using the Editor

Note: This section assumes that you use Porcupine. You may need to do something differently if you use another editor.

Open your editor and press Ctrl+N create a new file in it. Then save it with Ctrl+S and choose whatever folder you want. The file name can be anything you want, but it must end with .py. For example, wat.py is OK but lolz is not. This way your editor knows that you want to create a python file.

Now type this code into the editor:

print("Hello World")
print("Testing... 1 2 3")
print("Goodbye")

You should see something like this:

Press Ctrl+S again to save the file (this time the editor remembers where it is and you don't need to choose a location and filename again). Then press F5 to run the code. As you can see, it simply runs line by line, top to bottom.

Summary

• Now you should have Python installed, and you should be able run its >>> prompt.
• You should also have an editor that lets you write code to files and run the code.

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If you have trouble with this tutorial please tell me about it and I'll make this tutorial better. If you like this tutorial, please give it a star.

You may use this tutorial freely at your own risk. See LICENSE.

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