Python has two major distributions(download options) listed below, from where you can download the set up and install on your laptop:
The installation is not a big deal. just download the set-up file from above links based on your platform(windows/Mac/Linux) and double click…that’s it! 🙂
What is the difference between python.org and Anaconda?
Python.org is the official body which maintains the source code of python. It will decide what improvements to do in the next version and what functionalities to drop.
Anaconda is a bigger distribution, it bundles multiple additional softwares and libraries along with python.
When you install Python from python.org, you get below items
- Python interpreter (Python.exe): The file which executes all python commands.
- CMD python: Interface to write python programs in the command prompt.
- IDLE: Integrated Development and Learning Environment. A better interface to write python programs. It provides autocomplete functionality while writing commands.
- Basic libraries( e.g os, sys etc.)
When you install Python from Anaconda.com, you get lot of additional stuff, this is why it is known as a bigger python aka Anaconda!
- Python interpreter
- CMD python
- IDLE
- Around 300 pre-installed libraries. This is a huge relief, given python library installation is so messy! You can focus on your problem statement rather then installing libraries.
- Spyder: A full blown IDE(Integrated Development Environment). This is a fancy software. Its user interface is divided into three major parts, the left side is where you write your code and on the top right side you can see the created variables. On the bottom right side you can see the outputs.
- Jupyter Notebook: This is the modern way to code! The idea is cloud based computing. You can do your python coding in the browser itself. The best part is, you can access it via a URL, that means the whole python and jupyter set-up can be present on some other server computer and you can leverage it from your computer using a URL!
The format of the Jupyter notebook helps to store all your notes, outputs from commands, hence making is the best option to share your work with someone else. It is widely used while teaching python and development in IT companies. - Pycharm: This is another IDE like spyder.
My recommendation is to use Anaconda, and specifically Jupyter notebook for your python program development and learnings because of the list of advantages it brings like cloud based development, easy work sharing/collaboration between team members etc.
