How to get started with Python?

Python is a very popular open-source, multi-purpose, high-level programming language. It is a very powerful and versatile language and is very easy to read, learn and write. Python has strict indentation requirements that means all lines of code must be indented by the same whitespaces. The simplicity of python syntaxes and these indentation requirements makes it very simple and readable all the time and that is why it is best suited for beginners as their first programming language. Let us learn how to code in python.

Introduction to Python

Python has a vast collection of standard libraries that offers a wide range of facilities and simplifies the programming process by removing the need to rewrite commonly used commands. It also supports user-friendly data structures that provide more functionality with less coding. Python has numerous applications like web development, machine learning, GUI applications and much more. It can be run on multiple platforms like Linux, MacOS and Windows, that is it is a cross-platform programming language.

Python is widely used in the software industry, tech giants like Google, Amazon, Facebook, Uber etc. This article will help you learn how to code in python in the most efficient way.

The Easiest Way to Run Python:

 As a first step, an IDE that is Integrated Development Environment has to be downloaded. It is a coding tool that allows you to write, test and debug codes in an easier and effective way. Thonny is the best-suited python IDE for beginners. It supports code completion. It comes with the built-in latest version of python due to which you don’t need to install python separately.

Follow the below-written steps to run python code on your personal computer

• Visit https://thonny.org/ . From the upper right corner choose the appropriate installer for your operating system as shown in the image below.
• Go to the location of the downloaded file and double click on the installer to start the setup process.
• Launch thonny and go to File -> new and save the file with .py The file name can be anything for example file1.py but it must necessarily end with .py.
• Write your python code and to run the code go to Run -> Run current script or just press F5. You will see output on the shell window.

Install Python Separately

 You can also use some IDE other than thonny which does not have the latest versions of python already bundled with them.

To install and run python on your personal computer follow the steps written below:

• Visit https://www.python.org/downloads/ and click on the Download Python <latest version> button.
• Open the installer and check the “Add Python to the PATH” box and click on customize installation that allows you to choose the location where you want to install python as shown in the picture.
• Under the Advanced Options section check the Add Python to Environment Variables option. It will allow you to run python from anywhere on your computer.
• Click on the next buttons to give permissions and then click on install.
• Installation might take some time, wait for it to get completed. Once you get the message “Setup was Successful” click on the Finish button.
• Open the IDLE shell, it can be used to run python on your computer. IDLE is the name of IDE which is also installed when you install python.
• You will get a prompt that looks like >>> this means you are supposed to type something. At the moment, you are working in an interactive mode.
• At the prompt (>>>) you can type your code and python will run it.

Your first Python Program 

The process of setting up the environment to code is done. Now this section will introduce you to how to write your first program in python.

The very first step towards learning any programming language and the simplest one is the “Hello World!” program. You have to display the output “Hello World!” on the screen.

Open any text editor or Integrated Development Environment (IDE), create a new file and save it as helloWorld.py. Please note that you can save it by any name just ensure that it ends with .py extension.

Type the following code in your file, this code will print the message written inside the double quotes:

print (“Hello World!”)

Now run the program by simply pressing F5 or go to Run -> Run Module. You will see the following output on your screen.

Hello World!

Congratulations!!! You have successfully written your first program in python and have got an understanding of how to code in the Python language.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q.1. How do you write code in Python?

Answer: To write any code in python language you need to install an IDE. After a successful installation, create a new File and save it with any name ending with extension .py. For example, helloWorld.py, test_name.py etc. Now you can write your code and Run it. The shortcut key to run programs is F5.

Q.2. What do you use to code in Python?

Answer: An Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is the workplace programmers use to code. It integrates several tools like an editor to handle code with code completion and syntax highlighting and tools for build, execution and debugging.

There are many options available for choosing IDE, to decide which IDE to choose, check which IDE is meeting up your requirements because there is no one best IDE, it depends on what hardware your system supports and the needs of the programmer.

Following are some IDEs that can be used to code in python:

• If you are a beginner, IDLE is the best choice to learn python at basic levels and if you don’t want to install python separately you can use thonny, it is known as the perfect choice of Python IDE for beginners.
• If you have become comfortable with basic syntaxes and working of IDEs you can switch to Sublime, PyCharm or VSCode.

Q.3. Where do I type code in Python?

Answer: After successfully installing python with the steps given in the section “Install Python Separately”. Open the start menu type python in the command line and it will invoke the interactive mode in the python interpreter.

You will see a prompt like >>>, at this prompt you have to type your code, for example, type print(“This text will be printed on the screen”) and press the enter key. Python will run the code you typed and you can see for the given example “This text will be printed on the screen” will get printed.

Q.4. How do I start python for beginners?

Answer: Python is the best-suited language for beginners since it has very simple syntaxes and very short and readable codes.

As a very first step set up your environment by following the steps explained in the above section. Once the setup is completed, write some very basic codes which will make you comfortable with the working of IDE.
Focus on learning the very basic syntaxes and do code and run every program you learn to gain confidence to write complex codes in future.

With regular practice, you will get a good hold on python in a very short time.