Hi Eli, > I'm very new to python, I created my first program, saved it as .py. > I wanted to show it to my friends and I tested running it on another > computer, one without python, and it didn't work,
That's because Python is an interpreted language so it needs an interpreter to be present. This is the same as Java and most Visual Basic programs, the difference being that Microsoft provide Visual Basic and Java interpreters on Windows as standard. One of the easiest ways for you to write code that works on any machine is to use Jython. It is a vesion of Python written in Java that comes with a compiler for converting the Python code into a Java program. That will then run on any computer with Java installed. The snag is that some of the standard modules that come with Python don't work with Jython! (Thats because Java provides similar modules so you can use them instead). Most beginner programs will work in Jython but as you progress you might start hitting problems. But by then you are ready for option 2... Another way to get the programs to run is to convert the python program into a standalone executable file (a .exe) which can be done using a downloadable tool called py2exe. Py2exe just bundles a copy of the interpreter and all the modules you use into one file. Unfortunately this is not the simplest tool for a beginner to use... Also it creates quite big files - too big for a floppy disk. Of course if your friends had Apple Macs or Linux boxes then Python would be installed already. And there is a version of Python for Microsoft's new .NET framework called IronPython. But I haven't tried it and don't know how well it works. Also your friends will need to have the .NET framework installed. Finally, you could just install Python on your friends PCs too and maybe get them interested in programming :-) So there is no perfect answer (yet), sorry. But there are some options for you to try... HTH, Alan G Author of the learn to program web tutor http://www.freenetpages.co.uk/hp/alan.gauld _______________________________________________ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor
