Downloading Python
To download Python, go to the Python Website and download and install the latest version of Python 3. We have all the links you will need above. To install, just run the installer that you have downloaded from the website. Follow the installer’s instructions, and you should be good to go!
Replit
If you don't want to go through all this hassle and jump straight into code, try using Replit. Just sign up, create a Python Repl, and you will be ready to go.
Installing an IDE
On top of installing Python 3, you’ll want to install an IDE.
An IDE or Integrated Development Environment is an application that allows you to easily create, organize, and edit files in any Python project.
We recommend using Visual Studio Code or Atom. We will be using these to work with Python files and write our Python programs. The moment we save a file as a Python file (.py file extension), the IDE will know that it is a Python file and will offer shortcuts and color coding to make programming in Python a lot easier.
Creating our first file
Create a file for working with Python. Call it test.py and save it in your "Documents" for now. Open it in your IDE. Follow along in writing the code that we walk through in the initial lessons. To test the code and see the output, open the Terminal (Mac OS X) or the Command Prompt (Windows).
If you are using Replit, you can just hit run and move on 😀
Then, type "cd Documents" This navigates to the Documents directory.
Now, to actually run the python file that is in your Documents directory, type python3 test.py. If this does not work, just type python test.py instead. This will run the commands and code in the test.py file and show the output in the terminal or command prompt window.
You won’t see any output until we actually start sending output out of the program, which we will do in later lessons.
Feel free to follow along or try out what you learn in different ways. Practice makes Perfect!