Python Basics - Setting up your Python Development Environment

By: William Alexander in Python Tutorials on 2017-09-26

Now that you have decided to learn Python (otherwise you will not be reading this :) ), this tutorial will get you started with setting up the right tools and environment for you to start learning and coding within ten minutes (also depends on your download speed of course). All you need is three steps and you are ready.

Download and install Python
First of all you you would need to download Python from https://www.python.org/downloads/
The first decision you need to make is which version to download. The Python 2.7 or the Python 3.x. If you are a beginner and you are just starting to learn Python, then you should download 3.x. On the other hand, if you need to work on some legacy Python based application which depends on older libraries that cannot be ported, then you are better off with 2.7. But moving forward, there will not be any new releases on 2.7 Python. Eventually all have to migrate to 3.x version which is improved and most of the libraries are porting to the newer version. So Just go with version 3.x. Download the right release based on whether you are using Windows, Linux or Mac. Just download and install it in the default location.
Download and install Pycharm
As with any other language, you need a proper IDE to create and execute programs with ease. There are many IDEs out there but for beginners to start coding immediately and learn Python, I would recomment PyCharm. You can download the community edition of Pycharm from here. https://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/download/#section=windows
Setup preferences in Pycharm
Once installed, launch Pycharm and look for "Default Settings" option and make sure the path to the Python you installed in step 1 is seletec in "Project Interpreter" and under "Console" (below Build, Execution, Deployment) choose "Python Console" and set the "Python Interpreter" path.