7  Introduction to Python

Python is a programming language invented in the early 1980’s by a Dutch programmer named Guido van Rossum who was working at the Dutch National Research Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science. Python is a high-level programming language with a simple syntax that is easy to learn. The language supports a variety of programming paradigms including procedural programming, object-oriented programming, as well as some functional programming idioms. The name of the language is a whimsical nod toward Monty Python’s Flying Circus.

Python has a very active development community. There is a stable core to the language, but new language features are also being developed. Python has an extensive standard library that includes facilities for a wide range of programming tasks. There is a very large user community the provides support and helps to develop an extensive set of third-party libraries. Python is also highly portable – it is available on pretty much any computing platform you’re likely to use. Python is also open-source and free!

7.1 Python Resources

There are many resources available online and in bookstores for learning Python. A few handy resources are listed here:

• Python Website – the official website for the programming language.

• The Python Tutorial – the ‘official’ Python tutorial.

• Python Library Reference – a reference guide to the many modules that come included with Python.

• Think Python: How to Think Like a Computer Scientist – a free book that provides an introduction to programming using Python.

7.2 Starting the Python interpreter

The Python interpreter can be started in a number of ways. The simplest way is to open a shell (terminal) and type python. You can open a terminal as follows:

• On a Mac (OS X) run the terminal program available under Applications > Utilities

• On Windows open up a command prompt, available from Start Menu > Accessories.

Once you’re at the command prompt type the following command:

python

If everything is working correctly you should see something like:

Python 3.10.4 | packaged by conda-forge | (main, Mar 24 2022, 17:42:03) [Clang 12.0.1 ] on darwin
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> 

If that command didn’t work, please see me for further help configuring your Python installation. From within the default interpretter you can type Ctrl-d (Unix, MacOS) , Ctrl-z (Windows) or type quit() to stop the interpreter and return to the command line.