Python - Environment Setup

First step in the journey of learning Python is to install it on your

machine. Today most computer machines, especially having Linux
OS, have Python pre-installed. However, it may not be the latest
version.

Python is available on a wide variety of platforms including Linux

and Mac OS X. Let's understand how to set up our Python
environment.

 Unix (Solaris, Linux, FreeBSD, AIX, HP/UX, SunOS, IRIX, etc.)

 Win 9x/NT/2000
 Macintosh (Intel, PPC, 68K)
 OS/2
 DOS (multiple versions)
 PalmOS
 Nokia mobile phones
 Windows CE
 Acorn/RISC OS
 BeOS
 Amiga
 VMS/OpenVMS
 QNX
 VxWorks
 Psion

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Python has also been ported to the Java and .NET virtual
machines

Local Environment Setup

Open a terminal window and type "python" to find out if it is

already installed and which version is installed. If Python is
already installed then you will get a message something like as
follows:

$ python
Python 3.11.2 (main, Feb 8 2023, [Link]) [GCC 9.4.0] on linux
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more
information.

>>>
Downloading Python

The most up-to-date and current source code, binaries,

documentation, news, etc., is available on the official website of
Python [Link]

You can download Python documentation

from [Link] The documentation is
available in HTML, PDF, and PostScript formats.

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Installing Python

Python distribution is available for a wide variety of platforms.

You need to download only the binary code applicable for your
platform and install Python.

If the binary code for your platform is not available, you need a C
compiler to compile the source code manually. Compiling the
source code offers more flexibility in terms of choice of features
that you require in your installation.

Here is a quick overview of installing Python on various platforms

−

Install Python on Ubuntu Linux

To check whether Python is already installed, open the Linux

terminal and enter the following command −

$ python3.11 --version

In Ubuntu Linux, the easiest way to install Python is to use apt

Advanced Packaging Tool. It is always recommended to
update the list of packages in all the configured repositories.

$ sudo apt update

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Even after the update, the latest version of Python may not be
available for install, depending upon the version of Ubuntu you
are using. To overcome this, add the deadsnakes repository.

$ sudo apt-get install software-properties-common

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:deadsnakes/ppa

Update the package list again.

$ sudo apt update

To install the latest Python 3.11 version, enter the following

command in the terminal −

$ sudo apt-get install python3.11

Check whether it has been properly installed.

$ python3
Python 3.11.2 (main, Feb 8 2023, [Link]) [GCC 9.4.0] on
linux
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more
information.

>>> print ("Hello World")

Hello World

>>>

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Install Python on other Linux

Here are the simple steps to install Python on Unix/Linux

machine.

 Open a Web browser and go

to [Link]
 Follow the link to download zipped source code available for
Unix/Linux.
 Download and extract files.
 Editing the Modules/Setup file if you want to customize some
options.

Now issue the following commands:

$ run ./configure script

$ make
$ make install

This installs Python at standard location /usr/local/bin and its

libraries at /usr/local/lib/pythonXX where XX is the version of
Python.

Using Yum Command

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL 8) does not install Python 3 by

default. We usually use yum command on CentOS and other

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related variants. The procedure for installing Python-3 on RHEL 8
is as follows:

$ sudo yum install python3

Install Python on Windows

It should be noted that Python's version 3.10 onwards cannot be

installed on Windows 7 or earlier operating systems.

The recommended way to install Python is to use the official

installer. A link to the latest stable version is given on the home
page itself. It is also found
at [Link]

You can find embeddable packages and installers for 32 as well as

64-bit architecture.

Let us download 64-bit Windows installer −

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([Link]
[Link])

Double click on the file where it has been downloaded to start the
installation.

Although you can straight away proceed by clicking the Install

Now button, it is advised to choose the installation folder with a
relatively shorter path, and tick the second check box to update
the PATH variable.

Accept defaults for rest of the steps in this installation wizard to

complete the installation.

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Open the Window Command Prompt terminal and run Python to
check the success of installation.

C:\Users\Acer>python
Python 3.11.2 (tags/v3.11.2:878ead1, Feb 7 2023, [Link])
[MSC v.1934
64 bit (AMD64)] on win32
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more
information.
>>>

Python's standard library has an executable module

called IDLE short for Integrated Development and Learning
Environment. Find it from Window start menu and launch.
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IDLE contains Python shell (interactive interpreter) and a
customizable multi-window text editor with features such as
syntax highlighting, smart indent, auto completion etc. It is
cross-platform so works the same on Windows, MacOS and Linux.
It also has a debugger with provision to set breakpoints,
stepping, and viewing of global and local namespaces.

Here are the steps to install Python on Windows machine.

 Open a Web browser and go

to [Link]
 Follow the link for the Windows installer [Link] file
where XYZ is the version you need to install.
 To use this installer [Link], the Windows system
must support Microsoft Installer 2.0. Save the installer file to

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 your local machine and then run it to find out if your machine
supports MSI.
 Run the downloaded file. This brings up the Python install
wizard, which is really easy to use. Just accept the default
settings, wait until the install is finished, and you are done.
Macintosh Installation

Recent Macs come with Python installed, but it may be several

years out of date. See [Link] for
instructions on getting the current version along with extra tools
to support development on the Mac. For older Mac OS's before
Mac OS X 10.3 (released in 2003), MacPython is available.

Jack Jansen maintains it and you can have full access to the
entire documentation at his website
− [Link] You
can find complete installation details for Mac OS installation.

Setting up PATH

Programs and other executable files can be in many directories,

so operating systems provide a search path that lists the
directories that the OS searches for executables.

The path is stored in an environment variable, which is a named

string maintained by the operating system. This variable contains
information available to the command shell and other programs.

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The path variable is named as PATH in Unix or Path in Windows
(Unix is case sensitive; Windows is not).

In Mac OS, the installer handles the path details. To invoke the
Python interpreter from any particular directory, you must add
the Python directory to your path.

Setting path at Unix/Linux

To add the Python directory to the path for a particular session in

Unix −

 In the csh shell − type setenv PATH

"$PATH:/usr/local/bin/python" and press Enter.
 In the bash shell (Linux) − type export
PATH="$PATH:/usr/local/bin/python" and press Enter.
 In the sh or ksh shell − type
PATH="$PATH:/usr/local/bin/python" and press Enter.
 Note − /usr/local/bin/python is the path of the Python
directory
Setting path at Windows

To add the Python directory to the path for a particular session in

Windows −

At the command prompt − type path %path%;C:\Python and

press Enter.

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Note − C:\Python is the path of the Python directory

Python Environment Variables

Here are important environment variables, which can be

recognized by Python −

[Link]. Variable & Description

1 PYTHONPATH
It has a role similar to PATH. This variable tells the Python
interpreter where to locate the module files imported into a
program. It should include the Python source library
directory and the directories containing Python source
code. PYTHONPATH is sometimes preset by the Python
installer.
2 PYTHONSTARTUP
It contains the path of an initialization file containing
Python source code. It is executed every time you start the
interpreter. It is named as .[Link] in Unix and it
contains commands that load utilities or modify
PYTHONPATH.
3 PYTHONCASEOK
It is used in Windows to instruct Python to find the first
case-insensitive match in an import statement. Set this
variable to any value to activate it.
4 PYTHONHOME

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 It is an alternative module search path. It is usually
embedded in the PYTHONSTARTUP or PYTHONPATH
directories to make switching module libraries easy.

Running Python

There are three different ways to start Python −

Interactive Interpreter

You can start Python from Unix, DOS, or any other system that
provides you a command-line interpreter or shell window.

Enter python the command line.

Start coding right away in the interactive interpreter.

$python # Unix/Linux
or
python% # Unix/Linux
or
C:> python # Windows/DOS

Here is the list of all the available command line options −

[Link]. Option & Description

1 -d
It provides debug output.
2 -O

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 It generates optimized bytecode (resulting in .pyo files).
3 -S
Do not run import site to look for Python paths on startup.
4 -v
verbose output (detailed trace on import statements).
5 -X
disable class-based built-in exceptions (just use strings);
obsolete starting with version 1.6.
6 -c cmd
run Python script sent in as cmd string
7 file
run Python script from given file

Script from the Command-line

A Python script can be executed at command line by invoking the

interpreter on your application, as in the following −

$python [Link] # Unix/Linux

or

python% [Link] # Unix/Linux

or

C: >python [Link] # Windows/DOS

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Note − Be sure the file permission mode allows execution.

Integrated Development Environment

You can run Python from a Graphical User Interface (GUI)

environment as well, if you have a GUI application on your
system that supports Python.

 Unix − IDLE is the very first Unix IDE for Python.

 Windows − PythonWin is the first Windows interface for
Python and is an IDE with a GUI.
 Macintosh − The Macintosh version of Python along with the
IDLE IDE is available from the main website, downloadable as
either MacBinary or BinHex'd files.

If you are not able to set up the environment properly, then you
can take help from your system admin. Make sure the Python
environment is properly set up and working perfectly fine.

We have provided Python Online Compiler/Interpreter which

helps you to Edit and Execute the code directly from your
browser. to run the following Python code to print conventional
"Hello, World!".

Below code box allows you to change the value of the code. Try
to change the value inside print() and run it again to verify the
result.

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# This is my first Python program.
# This will print 'Hello, World!' as the output

print ("Hello, World!");

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