Getting Started with Python
===========================

Welcome to Python! Not only are you entering the new world of a programming language, but you are also entering an *ecosystem* of professional and hobbyist developers from literally every corner of the globe coming together to make the world a better place through software (and make a little bit of money at the same time)!

Of course, that last part is optional — you are totally free to code Python on your own and chose not to interact with anyone within the community — but, you'll be missing out on the best part of what makes Python Python!


Twitter Accounts to Follow
--------------------------

Twitter is an excellent way to keep in touch with what's going on with the Python community.

- **The Python Software Foundation** (`@ThePSF <https://twitter.com/ThePSF>`_)

- **Kenneth Reitz** (`@kennehreitz <https://twitter.com/kennethreitz>`_) — Myself, the author of this website. I often tweet about Python–related topics, as well as music, photography, and other side-projects I have going on.

- **Guido Van Rossom** (`@gvanrossum <https://twitter.com/gvanrossum>`_) — The creator of Python itself. Doesn't tweet much, but is occassionally accessable. Very kind soul. Keep in mind, he gets a lot of attention.

- **Nick Coghlan** (`@ncoghlan_dev <https://twitter.com/ncoghlan_dev>`_) — Core Python developer, very active on Twitter, has very thoughtful thoughts about Open Source and the direction of Python in general.

- **Lynn Root** (`@rougelynn <https://twitter.com/rougelynn>`_) — Closely related to PyLadies.

- **Armin Ronacher** (`@mitsuhiko <https://twitter.com/mitsuhiko>`_) — The creator of Flask, Click, Sphinx, and many other wonderful Python utilities we all know and love. Mostly found writing iOS and Rust code nowadays.

- **Corey Benfield** (`@ <https://twitter.com/coreybenfield>`_)

- **Alex Gaynor** (`@alex_gaynor <https://twitter.com/alex_gaynor>`_)

- **Yarko T.** (`@yarkot <https://twitter.com/yarkot>`_)

- **David Beazley** (`@ <https://twitter.com/>`_)

- **Jeff Forcier** (`@bitprophet <https://twitter.com/bitprophet>`_) — The creator of Fabric, and maintiner of many open source libraries. 

Getting Python Installed
------------------------

Of course, the first thing you need to do is install Python on your machine. If you go to the Python.org website, you may be a bit confused about which version of Python you should be using. *The correct answer is:*

**Use the latest version of Python 3.** As of the time of this writing, that is version **3.6.4**. 

Here are some great installation guides for various system types:

- `Installing Python 3 Properly on MacOS <http://docs.python-guide.org/en/latest/starting/install3/osx/>`_
- `Installing Python 3 Properly on Linux <http://docs.python-guide.org/en/latest/starting/install3/linux/>`_
- `Installing Python 3 Properly on Windows <http://docs.python-guide.org/en/latest/starting/install3/windows/>`_

Installing Pipenv
-----------------

The next step is to install *Pipenv*, our packaging tool of choice. Package mangers allow us to easily manage (resolve, install, uninstall) dependencies and virtual environments for projects.


Python.org has a `great guide <https://packaging.python.org/tutorials/managing-dependencies/>`_ available for installing Pipenv that also covers its basic usage.

Here's a great `blog post <https://bryson3gps.wordpress.com/2017/11/08/stop-everything-start-using-pipenv/>`_ covering the basic concepts presented by Pipenv, and why it's an excellent choice for your first project.