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** (`@Lukasaoz <https://twitter.com/Lukasaoz>`_)

- **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/>`_

Understanding Dependencies
--------------------------

Applications, scripts, and utlities built with Python typicaly have *dependencies* attached to them, which are Python modules they require to run/operate with, that need to be installed before you can use the sotware.

A package manager, like *pipenv* (which we'll cover shortly), or the lower–level *pip* (in conjunction with *virtalenv* can be used to install and manage these dependencies, which are typically hosted on either on `PyPi (The Python Package Index) <https://pypi.python.org/>`_ or `GitHub <https://github.com/>`.

You'll typically see these required packages (and any specific versions) declared in one of the following files: ``Pipfile``, ``requirements.txt``, or ``setup.py``. 

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.

If you're on a Mac, and have `homebrew <https://brew.sh>`_ installed, the following command will suffice::

    $ brew install pipenv
    
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. 

Using Pipenv
------------

First, ``$ cd`` into your new project directory (after you ``$ mkdir`` and ``$ git init`` it, of course), and simply run ``$ pipenv install requests`` to instal the `requests <https://docs.python-requests.org/>`_ library, which is one of our favorites. 

Then, run ``$ pipenv shell`` to run a shell that will have a ``$ python`` available in which ``import reqests`` will function properly. Pretty simple :)

For further instructions, check out `the Pipenv documentation <https://pipenv.org>`_.