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Installing Python

❝ Tempora mutantur nos et mutamur in illis. (Times change, and we change with them.) ❞
— ancient Roman proverb

Diving in

Welcome to Python 3. Let's dive in. In this chapter, you'll install the version of Python 3 that's right for you.

Which Python Is Right For You?

The first thing you need to do with Python is install it. Or do you?

If you're using an account on a hosted server, your ISP may have already installed Python 3. Most popular GNU/Linux distributions come with Python 2 in the default installation; a small but growing number of distributions also include Python 3. (As you’ll see in this chapter, you can have more than one version of Python installed on your computer.) Mac OS X includes a command-line version of Python 2, although you'll probably want to install a version that includes a more Mac-like graphical interface.

Windows does not come with any version of Python, but don’t despair! There are several ways to point-and-click your way to Python on Windows.

What's more, Python programs written on one platform can run on any supported platform. For instance, I regularly develop Python programs on Windows and later deploy them on Linux.

So back to the question that started this section, “Which Python is right for you?” The answer is whichever one runs on the computer you already have.

Installing on Microsoft Windows

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Installing on Mac OS X

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Installing on Ubuntu Linux

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Installing on Other Platforms

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Python Editors and IDEs

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http://wiki.python.org/moin/PythonEditors
http://wiki.python.org/moin/IntegratedDevelopmentEnvironments
http://pydev.sourceforge.net/
http://www.activestate.com/komodo/
http://www.activestate.com/activepython/

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© 2001–9 Mark Pilgrim