Install Python Interpreter

Pre-installed Python

By default, Windows doesn't come with Python.

Old MacOS comes with an old Python 2, you can check the version using python --versoin. Your MacOS may pre-install an old version Python 3, you can check the version using python3 --version. You should install and use the latest Python 3 edition. In MacOS, always use python3 instead of python.

Install Python3

Please download and install the latest Python 3 version from Python Dowland Site. The latest version is something like 3.x.y. You can ignore the specific Python version in the following videos. It is the same process for different Python versions and Operating System versions.

Windows

Please install the latest Python version by following the video Install on Windows 10. Please follow the instruction to test your installation. For example, you should be able to run python --version in command line to check that you install the right version.

MacOS

Please install the latest Python version following the video Install Python on Mac OS. Make sure that you can run python3 from the command line.

Install Python Packages

Many useful Python software are available as packages/modules that can be installed using the pip or pip3 command - they are the same.

First, you may want to upgrade your pip using the command python3 -m pip install --upgrade pip. Use pip --version to check that it works and displays the current version.

Then, use pip install package-name or pip3 install package-name to install a Python package, replace the package-name with the specific package name. For example, if you want to use matplotlib to plot a graph, use the command pip install matplotlib to install it.