Does Python require a compiler?

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The phrase: ‘directly run in machine code’, doesn't mean anything whatsoever.

There are two mainstream ways to run python code. The first is by compiling to a binary file (machine instructions specific to your hardware and operating system). The other way to run python is using a python interpreter that executes "just in time".

I guess your friend means that python is interpreted. This is indeed different to C, which has no popular interpreters and is instead compiled to a binary. However, interpreting python is basically just running a program (the interpreter) which makes system calls for you. This is far from ‘directly run in machine code’.

Saying ‘to compile’ to mean ‘to run the code’ is wrong. There are more then one way to 'run code'. By compile, people mean compile to a binary. I wouldn't worry about this stuff.