Introduction to Python 2nd Edition

This is the code for Introduction to Python 2nd Edition by Arianne Dee on O'Reilly.

Feel free to provide issues, questions, or suggestions through the repository's issues tracker.

To get started with this course, please follow these instructions:

1. Download the code
2. Install Python
3. Install a code editor
4. Check that Python was installed properly

Set up instructions

1. Download the course files

Note: There are video instructions in Lesson 1.1

At the top of this page (at https://github.com/ariannedee/intro-to-python-2ed), click the green button.

If you have git installed, clone the repository.

If you don't know git, click "Download ZIP", unzip the folder intro-to-python-2ed-main and move it to a convenient location on your computer.

2. Install Python 3

This course requires Python 3.6 or higher to run all the examples. The video uses Python 3.13.

Note: There are video instructions in Lesson 1.1

You can reference this Real Python tutorial for more instructions on how to install Python on your operating system.

Email me at arianne.dee.studios at gmail.com if you need help troubleshooting your Python installation.

On Mac

Go to https://www.python.org/downloads/.

Download the installer for the latest version of Python. Follow the prompts to install using the default settings.

On Windows

Either download the latest version of Python from the Windows Store, or download and run the installer from https://www.python.org/downloads/.

If running the Python.org installer, it will also install the Windows Python Launcher. Before installing, read this to see some of the default configurations you may want to change.

On Linux

Since there are so many Linux distributions, there is no official installer for Python.

Some options:

1. Use your package manager (e.g. $ sudo apt-get install python3.12)
2. Build from source code. See the CPython tutorial for instructions.
3. Download and install Anaconda if you're going to be doing data analysis
4. Install pyenv to manage and install Python

3. Install a code editor

Note: There are video instructions in Lesson 1.2

The video uses PyCharm Community, which is an old edition of PyCharm.

You can now download PyCharm Unified, which provides a free trial of the Pro features and is free to use afterwards. The course doesn't rely on any paid Pro features.

You are welcome to use another IDE, like VS Code, Spyder, IDLE, etc.

PyCharm

Go to https://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/download/.

Note: While the course uses the old Community Edition, you should download the Unified product.

Install, open, and use the default settings.

Visual Studio Code

Go to https://code.visualstudio.com/Download.

Once installed and opened, get the official Python extension.

Spyder

If you installed Python via Anaconda, Spyder will already be installed and available to run via the Anaconda Navigator.

Otherwise, you can use the installer from https://www.spyder-ide.org/ on Mac or Windows.

4. Make sure you can run the code

Note: There are video instructions in Lesson 1.2

1. Open your code editor of choice

2. Open the intro-to-python-2ed-main folder (make sure it's unzipped first)

3. Open the examples/example_1_first_code.py file

4. Run it. It should run successfully with no errors.

See Lesson 1.2 for instructions on how to run files in PyCharm and IDLE. In VS Code and Spyder, press the green Run arrow.

If you are having errors running the file, follow these steps to configure your code editor with the correct version of Python (3.6 or higher).

Troubleshooting

I downloaded PyCharm, now it's saying I'm on a trial

That is fine. You can use PyCharm with Pro features enabled or with only free features.

Note that your interface might look different than in the video, which was recorded with an old Community Edition of PyCharm.

I'm still having trouble setting everything up

Email me at arianne.dee.studios at gmail.com with any relevant error messages and screenshots.

There's an error in the video or the code

Email me at arianne.dee.studios at gmail.com, or submit an issue in this GitHub repository.