Programming Tutorials

Installing gedit for python programming in Windows

By: zhmark in python Tutorials on 2011-03-04  

1. Go to http://projects.gnome.org/gedit/ with your browser, get the gedit text editor, and install it.
2. Make sure you can get to gedit easily by putting it on your desktop and/or in Quick Launch. Both options
   are available during setup.
       (a) Run gedit so we can fix some stupid defaults it has.
       (b) Open Edit->Preferences select the Editor tab.
       (c) Change Tab width: to 4.
       (d) Select (make sure a check mark is in) Insert spaces instead of tabs.
       (e) Turn on "Automatic indentation" as well.
       (f) Open the View tab turn on "Display line numbers".
3. Find your "Terminal" program. It's called Command Prompt. Alternatively just run cmd.
4. Make a shortcut to it on your desktop and/or Quick Launch for your convenience.
5. Run your Terminal program. It won't look like much.
6. In your Terminal program, run python. You run things in Terminal by just typing their name and hitting RETURN.
       (a) If you run python and it's not there (python is not recognized..). Install it from http://python.org/download 
       (b) Make sure you install Python 2 not Python 3.
       (c) You may be better off with ActiveState Python especially when you miss Administrative rights
7. Hit CTRL-Z (^Z), Enter and get out of python.
8. You should be back at a prompt similar to what you had before you typed python. If not find out why.
9. Learn how to make a directory in the Terminal. Search online for help.
10. Learn how to change into a directory in the Terminal. Again search online.
11. Use your editor to create a file in this directory. Make the file, "Save" or "Save As...", and pick this directory.
12. Go back to Terminal using just the keyboard to switch windows. Look it up if you can't figure it out.
13. Back in Terminal, see if you can list the directory to see your newly created file. Search online for how to list a directory.

C:\Documents and Settings\you>python
ActivePython 2.6.5.12 (ActiveState Software Inc.) based on
Python 2.6.5 (r265:79063, Mar 20 2010, 14:22:52) [MSC v.1500 32 bit (Intel)] on win32
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> ^Z
C:\Documents and Settings\you>mkdir mystuff
C:\Documents and Settings\you>cd mystuff
... Here you would use gedit to make test.txt in mystuff ...
C:\Documents and Settings\you\mystuff>

C:\Documents and Settings\you\mystuff>dir
Volume in drive C is
Volume Serial Number is 085C-7E02
Directory of C:\Documents and Settings\you\mystuff
04.05.2010 23:32  .
04.05.2010 23:32  ..
04.05.2010 23:32 6 test.txt
1 File(s) 6 bytes
2 Dir(s) 14 804 623 360 bytes free