Hi Kelvin, My responses interleaved between your comments below.
On Mon, Aug 04, 2014 at 11:02:05PM -0500, Kelvin Baumgart wrote: > My current OS is Windows 8 unfortunately. I'm definitely desiring to change > this however for the time being I require an external DVD burner to obtain > backups/OS before I can really progress. For the time being I'm recently > someone who has an unparalleled drive towards becoming a programmer. I'd > imagine seeing someone attempting to install an older version of Python may > be out of the norm. Installing an older version is a little unusual, but not unheard of. I myself have versions of Python going back to 0.9 installed. > As my ambition to pursue skills I've began an online > course on "Introduction to Computer Science and Programming" which is being > taught through MIT. Their curriculum is centered on 2.5.4 however any 2.5 > or 2.6 versions are allegedly acceptable accordingly to the syllabus. If you have a choice between 2.5 and 2.6, choose 2.6. > I'm > literally what you could consider an absolute novice who's just starting > dabbling with this sort of thing, so please look past any naivety that > probably engulfs this email. You and half the people on this list :-) > Essentially if you could help get started with > installation by giving me professional input towards what OS or anything > else relevant to my cause I will be greatly appreciative for your time and > effort. If you're familiar with Windows, stick to Windows. But, I think it's probably fair to say that Linux is a better OS for professional Python development than Windows is. That isn't to say that you cannot write Python code on Windows, just that it's a bit harder. With Linux, you have a much wider range of free, professional-quality tools that will make your life as a developer easier. But, as a beginner, don't worry about that. Stick to what you know. You can always experiment later. Do the MIT course notes assume you're using a specific editor? If so, you might like to use that one. Otherwise, you'll want a *good* editor. You can write Python code with Notepad, if you're desperate enough, it's just text, but you'll be more productive with a programmers editors. I'm not a Windows user, so I can't make any personal recommendations, but you can start here: https://wiki.python.org/moin/PythonEditors I've used geany (on Linux, not Windows), and can recommend it. I've also used Spyder (again, on Linux) but the version I used just felt sluggish and too "busy", but many people disagree. The beauty of starting with free, open source software is that it costs you nothing but a little bit of time to try it out. If you have a scientific background, and are used to software like Mathematica that has "notebooks", you should consider using IPython. As far as installing Python goes, you can get a bare-bones Windows installer from here: https://www.python.org/download/releases/2.6.6/ If you feel brave enough to compile your own from source, and have a Windows C compiler, try this: https://www.python.org/download/releases/2.6.8/ but if you have no idea what a C compiler is or how to use it, stick to the first link. Or, you can use a third-party package: http://komodoide.com/komodo-edit/ although I don't know what version(s) of Python it supports. I hear good things about Komodo. > Without saying I've browsed through the forms and FAQ yet I've > haven't quite seen any particular thread that has these exact variables I > face. I hope to hear back from you soon, and look forward to receiving > guidance from those with expertise on such a trivial problem. No problem at all! Feel free to ask any questions you may have. -- Steven _______________________________________________ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org To unsubscribe or change subscription options: https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor