2.2) Launching Python
The way to open IDLE depends on your environment:
- On Linux/Unix: type idle. If this doesn’t work, you might have to add Python to your path. Ask your IT support team.
- On Windows or Mac, open IDLE the way you would normally open a program. You might have to search for it. For example in Windows 7, type ‘IDLE’ in the search box in the start menu.
Once you’ve opened IDLE, you will see a window with some menus and some text like the following:
Enthought Canopy Python 2.7.3 | 64-bit | (default, Aug 8 2013, 05:43:23)
[GCC 4.1.2 20080704 (Red Hat 4.1.2-52)] on linux2
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>>
The first few lines describe your Python version and distribution. (Here I'm using the Canopy distribution of Python version 2.7.3.
If you prefer to use the Python interpreter, that depends on your environment too:
- On Linux/Unix: type python. If this doesn’t work, you might have to add python to your path. Ask your IT support team.
- On Windows or Mac, open python the way you would normally open a program. You might have to search for it. For example in Windows 7, type 'python' in the search box in the start menu and select "python (command line)".
Once you’ve opened the python interpreter, you will see a window with some menus and text like the following:
Enthought Canopy Python 2.7.3 | 64-bit | (default, Aug 8 2013, 05:43:23)
[GCC 4.1.2 20080704 (Red Hat 4.1.2-52)] on linux2
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>>
The first few lines describe your Python version and distribution. (Here I'm using the Canopy distribution of Python version 2.7.3.
The three arrows >>> are the Python interpreter prompt. It's prompting you to enter your commands there.
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