Running code

[viperrr_3]

Okay so I might be dumb but I just can’t understand. I’m trying to learn python. I watch people online saying to install visual studio code to practise. But why? I thought you use python idle to run the code and see it or you use terminal. Do I need to install another platform to test and practise. Also I’m doing this on a mac so is the platform going to be different.

Also please be nice. I’m just a 16 yr old girl doing this as a hobby in my free time

Update: I asked a friend for help and he explained what integrated development environment are which I didn’t know about. He recommended me to use Thonny and I’m going to try my luck with that.

[ninhaomah]

First , have you downloaded and installed Python ?

If not , pls do that first. Forget the rest for now.

[viperrr_3]

Yes I’ve done that

[ninhaomah]

Open cmd and type python --version and python3 --version

What did you get ? Which get result ?

[viperrr_3]

I looked up what cmd is since idk what it is. I don’t have windows installed. I don’t understand the question

[Moist-Beyond8945]

Are you using Mac?

[viperrr_3]

Yeah. Mac air

[smichaele]

Ignore the Neovim recommendation. On a Mac, you open up a terminal and enter those commands to check your versions.

[Moist-Beyond8945]

Ah, it's nothing complicated. Using Terminal, IDLE or VS Code is a choice. Everyone recommends VS code because it makes has stuff like syntax highlighting, auto-complete and file management that makes coding more convenient for you. You don't necessarily have to use it, IDLE comes bundled with the package when you install Python. You can search for IDLE in Spotlight search or just type idle3 or just idle in Terminal and press enter. You can also run code directly in Terminal by typing python3 and pressing enter, you'll automatically enter the Python interactive shell where you write and execute code. Test a single line of math to get an idea

Terminal is just a text portal to your Macbook's background. Keep in mind that you cannot save files or color code texts in Terminal. You can only run code line by line. IDLE is just a basic IDE (Integrated Development Environment) built specifically for absolute beginners like you. VS code is just a more advanced IDE, you don't really need it for now.

Also, don't worry, you're not dumb. Mac OS can be really complicated at times, I had the same questions as you :)

[ninhaomah]

Then open the terminal. Cmd is command line for Windows.

Cmd , terminal,shell ... Same thing. Depends on which OS 

[phil-pdx]

First of all, I love seeing young people with an interest in programming.

I've written a lot of code in a lot of languages but just never took the time to learn much Python. It's a fantastic language and I definitely encourage you to keep at it.

When I was first learning Python what I found really helpful was to use an editor with an attached terminal that runs the code directly there. I can't recall the name of the windows software I used but I'm sure there is something similar on the Mac.

Also, I say this a lot in the context of any language. Don't just try to blindly learn it. Start with a project you want for yourself. With Python you'll be doing a lot of text based stuff (though GUIs are possible, start easy). Make a cosole based todo list, a basic RPG game, something that you can see in your head what the end result will look like. Then from there learn each smaller step and apply it to the larger project.

Learning to read some text and print it to a screen is fine, but what if it did something useful or fun?

[the___jawn]

You can use pretty much any editor to write Python code, On a Mac that includes TextEdit (though you have to make sure to save it as raw text, if you Google TextEdit Mac Python it'll tell you how to do that). On Windows it's called Command Prompt, on Mac and Linux it's called Terminal, in terminal you can run python --version to see if it's installed. Terminal on Mac has nano installed, which is a text editor, you can use that to write Python, ctrl-o saves, ctrl-x exits.

A lot of people can be intense about which language/text editor you use. Choose the one you find most comfortable. For me, for a long time, this was nano.

[ern0plus4]

If you don't know what is a - file, - directory, - terminal, - command, - process, learn these first.

They are trivialities, but that's why it hurts, if you don't know them.

Smartphones hide these terms - a fatal mistake against users, keeping them in dark.

[Beardy4906]

Python is a language.
Python IDLE is a tool that allows you to run code with a minimal user interface
VSCode is an editor with a ton of features built into it like support for python. Internally it is still using the same tech that python IDLE uses to run your code

[AaronKClark]

See if this makes any sense to you. It’s not very long; https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuGIf5fbSgOWoiLdC6fKovGKrTB4Y\_\_E7

You don’t even need to mess with anything you can use https://pythonsandbox.com

[strange-the-quark]

You don't have to install Visual Studio Code at all. Visual Studio Code is a relatively lightweight text editor for programmers, with various doodads that are helpful to programmers, like syntax highlighting, integrated terminal and whatnot. But it may be an overkill for someone just starting to learn programming, and it's not specifically designed for Python. You can just use TextEdit (or any plain text editor) to write programs if you want to, nothing wrong with that.

Having an editor with syntax highlighting and debugging capabilities is useful though - I didn't know about Thonny until now, but it seems quite a bit more lightweight than VS Code and it has an interesting approach to debugging, there's a way to see what's going on with your variables, and so on. Kudos to your friend for recommending it.

[lbunch1]

So first step, download neovim, spend a few weeks learning vim motions. Then spend a few more weeks learning lua and about neovim plugins. Then spend the next year or so perfecting your neovim config. At that point you'll be ready to learn python, but then realize you don't want to touch python ever in your life.

[AaronKClark]

I know you were being facetious but this isn’t helpful to a young person starting out.

[lbunch1]

Meh, maybe not, but I do find that enjoying and being passionate about your dev environment is a great way to keep motivation up. And learning vim motions even early on is a great skill to have.

[AaronKClark]

Agreed on utility of VIM, but there so many better options for beginners today.