When we refer to "Python 3" in this book, we will be referring to any version of Python equal to or greater than version Python {{ book.pythonVersion }}.
Visit https://www.python.org/downloads/ and download the latest version. The installation is just like any other Windows-based software.
CAUTION: When you are given the option of unchecking any "optional" components, don't uncheck any.
NOTE: For people who already know programming, if you are familiar with Docker, check out Python in Docker and Docker on Windows.
If you want to be able to use Python from the Windows command line i.e. the DOS prompt, then you need to set the PATH variable appropriately.
For Windows 2000, XP, 2003 , click on Control Panel
-> System
-> Advanced
-> Environment Variables
. Click on the variable named PATH
in the System Variables section, then select Edit
and add ;C:\Python35
(please verify that this folder exists, it will be different for newer versions of Python) to the end of what is already there. Of course, use the appropriate directory name.
For older versions of Windows, open the file C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT
and add the line PATH=%PATH%;C:\Python35
and restart the system. For Windows NT, use the AUTOEXEC.NT
file.
For Windows Vista:
Control Panel
Advanced system settings
. Click that.Advanced
tab of the System Properties
dialog box is shown. Click the Environment Variables
button on the bottom right.System Variables
scroll down to Path and click the Edit
button.For Windows 7 and 8:
Properties
or click Start
and choose Control Panel
-> System and Security
-> System
. Click on Advanced system settings
on the left and then click on the Advanced
tab. At the bottom click on Environment Variables
and under System variables
, look for the PATH
variable, select and then press Edit
.;C:\Python27
(please verify that this folder exists, it will be different for newer versions of Python) to the end of what is already there. Of course, use the appropriate folder name.%SystemRoot%\system32;
It will now become %SystemRoot%\system32;C:\Python35
OK
and you are done. No restart is required, however you may have to close and reopen the command line.For Windows users, you can run the interpreter in the command line if you have set the PATH
variable appropriately.
To open the terminal in Windows, click the start button and click Run
. In the dialog box, type cmd
and press [enter]
key.
Then, type python3
and ensure there are no errors.
For Mac OS X users, use Homebrew: brew install python3
.
To verify, open the terminal by pressing [Command + Space]
keys (to open Spotlight search), type Terminal
and press [enter]
key. Now, run python3
and ensure there are no errors.
For GNU/Linux users, use your distribution's package manager to install Python 3, e.g. on Debian & Ubuntu: sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install python3
.
To verify, open the terminal by opening the +Terminal+ application or by pressing [Alt + F2]
and entering +gnome-terminal+. If that doesn't work, please refer the documentation of your particular GNU/Linux distribution. Now, run python3
and ensure there are no errors.
You can see the version of Python on the screen by running:
$ python3 -V
Python 3.5.1
NOTE: $
is the prompt of the shell. It will be different for you depending on the settings of the operating system on your computer, hence I will indicate the prompt by just the $
symbol.
CAUTION: Output may be different on your computer, depending on the version of Python software installed on your computer.
From now on, we will assume that you have Python installed on your system.
Next, we will write our first Python program.