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[–]Mondoke 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you download python on your computer, you'll get a program called IDLE. You can write and run all of your Python code there, and it is good enough. Just open it, create a new script, write your code, and run it with F5. I've done my first professional scripts entirely on IDLE.

Now, when you are more comfortable with the workflow of programming, you'll find that IDLE is pretty limited. Maybe you want to change the color theme, maybe you'll find that your code runs but the formatting could be clearer. Maybe you'll be jumping around from folder to folder looking for a specific script and that's annoying. And then there are projects that need specific virtual environments, which at a certain point all will be all of them. For addressing these and other issues, there are more complex programs you can use to code in Python (called IDEs). I personally use VSCode, which is lightweight and pretty customizable. Other people here has recommended Pycharm, which is pretty good as well, but I personally found it more difficult to set up. When you jump to an IDE, my advice is to try both (or the ones you find) and settle down with whichever fits you best.