1.2. THE PYTHON INTERPRETER AND IDLE, PART I 10
39 This line is only here to accommodate running the program in Windows by double clicking on its
file icon. Without this line, the story would be displayed and then the program would end, and
Windows would make it immediately disappear from the screen! This line forces the program to
continue being displayed until there is another response from the user, and meanwhile the user
may look at the output from tellStory.
1.2.4. Starting Idle.
The program that translates Python instructions and then executes them is the Python interpreter.
This interpreter is embedded in a number of larger programs that make it particularly easy to develop
Python programs. Such a programming environment is Idle, and it is a part of the standard distribution of
Python.
Read the section that follows for your operating system:
Windows (Assuming you already have Python installed.) Display your Python folder. You should see icon
for Idle31Shortcut (and maybe a similar icon with a number larger than 31 - ignore any other
unless you know you are using that version of Python). Double click on the appropriate shortcut,
and an Idle window should appear. After this the instructions are the same in any operating
environment. It is important to start Idle through these in several circumstances. It is best if
it you make it a habit to use this shortcut. For example the alternative of opening an existing
Python program in Windows XP or Vista from Open With Idle in the context menu looks like it
works at first but then fails miserably but inexplicably when you try to run a graphics program.
Mac OS X the new version of Python and Idle should be in a folder called MacPython 3.1, inside the
Applications folder. It is best if you can open a terminal window, change into your Python folder
from Section 1.2.1, and enter the command
idle
If the command is not recognized, you may need to include the full path to the idle program.
Linux The approach depends on the installation. In Ubuntu, you should fine idle in the Programming
section of the Applications menu. As with OS X above, you are better starting idle from a
terminal, with the current directory being your Python folder.
1.2.5. Windows in Idle. Idle has several parts you may choose to display, each with its own window.
Depending on the configuration, Idle can start up showing either of two windows, an Edit Window or a
Python Shell Window. You are likely to first see an Edit window, whose top left corner looks something like
in Windows:
For more on the Edit Window, see Section1.9.
If you see this Edit Window with its Run menu on top, go to the Run menu and choose PYTHON
SHELL to open a Python Shell Window for now. Then you may close the Edit Window.
Either initially, or after explicitly opening it, you should now see the Python Shell window, with a menu
like the following, though the text may be slightly different: