Downloading and installing Python
Because the browser tells the site you've entered the OS you use, the only step you have to take is to click the appropriate Python version you want.
In this case, select Python 3. The site always offers you the latest version of it.
If you're a Windows user, start the downloaded .exe file and follow all the steps.
Leave the default settings the installer suggests for now, with one exception - look at the checkbox named Add Python 3.x to Path and check it.
If you're a macOS user, a version of Python 2 may already have been preinstalled on your computer, but since we will be working with Python 3, you will still need to download and install the relevant .pkg file from the Python site.
Starting your work with Python
Now that you have Python 3 installed, it's time to check if it works and make the very first use of it.
This will be a very simple procedure, but it should be enough to convince you that the Python environment is complete and functional.
There are many ways of utilizing Python, especially if you're going to be a Python developer.
To Start your work, you need the following tools:
- an editor which will support you in writing the code (it should have some special features, not available in simple tools); this dedicated editor will give you more than the standard OS equipment
- a console in which you can launch your newly written code and stop it forcibly when it gets our of control
- a tool named a debugger, able to launch your code step-by-step, which will allow you to inspect it at each moment of execution.
Besides its many useful components, the Python 3 standard installation contains a very simple but extremely useful application named IDLE.
IDLE is the acronym: Integrated Development and Learning Environment.
Naviage through your OS menus, find IDLE somewhere under Python 3.x and launch it. This is what you should see:
