Contents

  • Komodo Edit

Introduction

Common operating systems like Mac OS X® or popular Linux distributions come with a Python interpreter preinstalled. Microsoft Windows® operating systems usually do not come with a preinstalled Python environment. Most likely the preinstalled or default Python interpreter on such systems will be in a version 2.x. For the purposes here, it is necessary to install Python 3 release version 3.2.x or newer.

The language elements differ between version 2.x and 3.x, as well as common behavior and output of results (in particular mathematical functions and statistical operations). Thus, for the following code examples it is necessary that Python 3.x is installed and used. On most systems this does not require uninstallation of previous versions of Python. You might need Python 2.x for certain system functions or other tools that you use. Both versions of Python can be installed next to each other and coexist without interference. If you have both versions of Python installed, it is very likely that you also have two different Python commands, that is python and python3, available on your system.

In the following we shall describe how a Python 3 development environment can be installed on Mac OS X® and Windows®. Linux users will find enough instructions for their specific distribution online.

We will use the freely available editor Komodo Edit for the examples and developing and testing our Python 3 code. You might prefer your own environment, e.g. Eclipse, Pythonwin, or common programming editor. To be able to follow some of the examples, you might want to have Komodo Edit also available on your system. In a class session it might be favorable to have the same development environment like others, if you would be asked to collaborate with others, or just help others, who use Komodo Edit, or advise your neighbors and classmates. Komodo Edit is available for all common platforms (e.g. Windows®, Mac OS X®, Linux), and it is free of charge. In the final section of this chapter you will find instructions for the configuration of Komodo Edit for the purposes here.