Python - To get started, you will need the Python interpreter or a Python IDE. An IDE is a tool that will make the experience of software development much better by providing features such as syntax highlighting, an integrated debugger, and automatic indentation.

However, it is not required to use IDE. Just like Java, many operating systems already come with a Python interpreter preinstalled, so you can just download the installer and start using Python.

But an IDE will make your life easier. An IDE is a tool that will make the experience of software development much better. You can think of it as a text editor and compiler for your code, but within the IDE there are also the extra tools that will help you be more productive when writing code.

Related course:
Complete Python Programming Course & Exercises

Python interpreter

Python programs are simply a collection of text files. If you want something more sophisticated than notepad for editing, you will need a Python IDEs (recommend). A Python IDE will make programming Python easier.

You can download Python interpreter here: https://www.python.org/downloads/

The Python interpreter is a command line program run from a Unix shell or a Windows command prompt. Its job is to read, execute and print the source code of the program you give it as input and print the resulting output to the screen or save it to a file.

At the core of any Python program is the interpreter. This program reads Python source code from a file and executes it. For example, if you type this

print('Hello, World!')

then the interpreter loads up the source code, executes it (printing the output), and then terminates.

Python is often installed by default. To test if Python is installed, open a terminal or command line. Then type python or python3. If the output is something like this, then it’s installed.

~ python3
Python 3.7.5 (default, Nov 20 2019, 09:21:52) 
[GCC 9.2.1 20191008] on linux
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>>

You can type quit() to exit the Python shell.

>>> quit()

If you don’t get this output, Python is not installed or not in the Path variable. See the next article on installation.

Python IDE

An IDE generally supports listing all program files, syntax highlighting and other features. There are lots of Python IDEs you could choose from.

Using one of these Python IDEs makes programming easier than in say, notepad. It will automatically color the text like the example below:

An IDE generally supports listing all program files, syntax highlighting and other features that make the experience of software development much better. There are lots of Python IDEs you could choose from.

PyCharm is one of the most popular IDEs for Python programmers. Anaconda is another popular IDE. You can also use Visual Studio Code as your Python IDE.

If you are a Python beginner, then I highly recommend this book.