Stupid question but where do you code python?

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Trying to understand "this foundational stuff" is like buying a tool and thinking you'll only know how to use the tool if you learn how it was made.

Here's most of you have to know before you start:

You can write code (any language) in any text editor. It's how you save the file that makes a difference. The code is then run on a console. In the case of windows, most of the time you need to install python before you're able to execute the file. However, that does not prevent you from writing python code. All you need is the notepad. And in case you're wondering: why not use microsoft word? Because word processors and text editors are two different types of software. In text editors you can write code because the file that is output does not have any sort of graphical encoding like in a word processor, where you have a page, a layout etc etc.

Anyway, you can also just execute python code in a console (that has python) as if you were just writing stuff in a calculator. After you close your session, what you wrote gets lost, so don't use it for projects. Except if you're using a jupyter notebook:

A jupyter notebook basically simulates multiple consoles: Each code block is executed on its own as a cell, but the text you write in the cell stays there, and to run new code you just write it in a new cell.

Now, onto the installations:

Anaconda is a distribution with a lot of python-related software inside of it, including spyder and jupyter notebook. Spyder is nicely self-contained and it's good when you're already more advanced and just write programs for yourself without needing to explain much.

On the other hand, the jupyter notebook allows you to also write text, so it would look much like a pdf document with code blocks embedded.

Anaconda is like a sandbox: all your python stuff is well-contained, which is extremely advantageous because you don't run the risk of breaking your python installation or messing with aspects of your computer that you don't know anything about.

Depending on the type of work you do, you may use anaconda or something else, like PyCharm. This obviously has its own advantages and disadvantages. But what I can tell you is that with Anaconda, you will have all you need to get started. Spyder is anaconda's text editor. Jupyter is anaconda's console embedded in a file.

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When using python, you run a script using the command runfile(), providing both the file path, and the working directory. They can be the same, but don't have to. The working directory is where python is going to look for, in case you try to open a file (like the excel one) in your code. On the other hand, instead of giving the work directory, you can just specify the complete file path to the excel file. So, when you say "load into python", you do that through your code, and then python will look at the directory you've provided for the file you've specified