TOOLS FOR PYTHON
The Anaconda Python distribution available for Windows, Linux, and Mac is downloadable here:
Anaconda is well-suited for libraries such as NumPy (discussed in Chapter 3) and SciPy (not discussed in this book). Also, if you are a Windows user, Anaconda appears to be a better alternative.
easy_install and pip
Both easy_install and pip are very easy to use when you need to install Python modules. Whenever you need to install a Python module (and there are many in this book), use either easy_install or pip with the following syntax:
easy_install <module-name>
pip install <module-name>
NOTE
Python-based modules are easier to install, whereas modules with code written in C are usually faster but more difficult in terms of installation.
virtualenv
The virtualenv tool enables you to create isolated Python environments, and its home page is here:
http://www.virtualenv.org/en/latest/virtualenv.html
virtualenv addresses the problem of preserving the correct dependencies and versions (and indirectly permissions) for different applications. If you are a Python novice you might not need virtualenv right now, but keep this tool in mind.
IPython
Another very good tool is IPython (which won a Jolt award), and its home page is here:
http://ipython.org/install.html
Type ipython to invoke IPython from the command line:
ipython
The preceding command displays the following output:
Python 3.9.13 (main, May 24 2022, 21:28:12)
Type 'copyright', 'credits' or 'license' for more information
IPython 7.22.0 -- An enhanced Interactive Python. Type '?' for help.
In [1]:
Type a question mark (“?”) at the prompt and you will see some useful information, a portion of which is here:
IPython -- An enhanced Interactive Python
=========================================
IPython offers a fully compatible replacement for the standard Python interpreter, with convenient shell features, special commands, command history mechanism and output results caching.
At your system command line, type 'ipython -h' to see the command line options available. This document only describes interactive features.
GETTING HELP
------------
Within IPython you have various way to access help:
? -> Introduction and overview of IPython's features (this screen).
object? -> Details about 'object'.
object?? -> More detailed, verbose information about 'object'.
%quickref -> Quick reference of all IPython specific syntax and magics.
help -> Access Python's own help system.
If you are in terminal IPython you can quit this screen by pressing `q`.
Finally, simply type quit() at the command prompt and you will exit the ipython shell.
The next section shows you how to check whether or not Python is installed on your machine, and also where you can download Python.
