Introduction to Python
What's the Purpose of This?
A lot of people I talk to want to get into programming but don't know where to start. Python is always my first recommendation — it's simple enough to pick up quickly, but powerful enough to take you a long way.
Why Python?
Python is an accessible language due to its readable syntax and reduced emphasis on low-level concerns when compared to languages such as C, C++, or Java. This makes it approachable for beginners while still remaining expressive and productive.
Despite its accessibility, Python is not a limited or niche language. It is widely adopted across web development, data engineering, automation, data science, and machine learning. Its ecosystem and maturity make it suitable for both small scripts and large-scale systems.
Python is currently one of the most widely adopted languages in production environments, ranking #2 in Stack Share integrations, with over 260,000 services reporting its use.
Your First Python Program, "Hello, World!"
There is a long tradition in programming tutorials to start with the simplest of programs that outputs "Hello, World!" to the screen. This program serves as a gentle introduction to the syntax and structure of a programming language.
The print() function in Python is used to display output to the console. Anything you put between the parentheses gets printed to the screen.
Go ahead and try it – type the following into the playground below and hit Run (or press Ctrl+Enter):
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print("Hello, World!")
For the start of these tutorials, we're just going to run the code from the browser. Later down the line, we will learn how to download and setup Python locally on your machine.
The playground below runs Python directly in your browser using PyScript. Type any Python code into the editor and press Run (or
Ctrl+Enter) to execute it. No installation needed.
If you are ever interested, you can check out the Hello World Collection which showcases how to write this simple program in over 1,000 different programming languages.
How to Install Python
Windows
Using Official Installer
You can navigate to the official Python website and download the installer for Windows at Python downloads page. Once you have opened the page, find the text that says Or get the standalone installer for Python 3.X.X and click the Python 3.X.X link.
After you've clicked the link it will download the installer for your system. Launch the downloaded executable file to start the installation process.
IMPORTANT NOTE -
At the start of the installation process, make sure you check the box that says "Add python.exe to PATH", as this will allow you to run Python from the command line.View the screenshot on the right for reference.
Follow the prompts in the installer to complete the installation. You can generally keep the default settings unless you have specific requirements.
Once the installer finishes, open Command Prompt or PowerShell and run the following to confirm it worked:
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python --version
You should see something like Python 3.x.x printed back at you.
Video Tutorial
MacOS
Using Homebrew
On macOS, Python may or may not be pre-installed depending on your system version, and even when it is, it's often outdated. It's recommended to install the latest version of Python 3.x directly.
If you don't know or have Homebrew installed, you can install it by following the installation instructions on the Homebrew website. Once you have Homebrew installed, you can install Python by opening the Terminal application and running the following command:
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brew install python
If you run into an issue
command not found, you'll need to add Python to your PATH., you can do so by adding the following line to your shell configuration file (e.g.,~/.bash_profile,~/.zshrc, etc.):
After adding the line, make sure to restart your terminal or run
source ~/.zshrc(or the appropriate file for your shell) to apply the changes.
Using the Official Installer
You can also download the official Python installer for macOS from the Python downloads page. Look for the macOS installer and download the latest version.
Once installed, open Terminal and verify it worked:
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python3 --version
Video Tutorial
Linux
Using Package Manager
Most Linux distributions come with Python pre-installed. However, if you need to install or upgrade Python, you can use your distribution's package manager.
For Debian-based distributions (like Ubuntu), you can use the following commands:
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sudo apt update
sudo apt install python3
For Red Hat-based distributions (like Fedora), you can use:
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sudo dnf install python3
After installation, verify it's working with:
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python3 --version
Conclusion
You should have a basic feel for what Python is and how to get it installed on your machine. The next post will be a rundown of the fundamentals of the Python programming language.