Everything Python (programming language)

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Midas
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Everything Python (programming language)

#1 Post by Midas »

Following up on previous discussions (viewtopic.php?t=5724 and viewtopic.php?t=20655, especially freakazoid's suggestion of portable Python implementations for Windows) and after finding it a vast theme that encompasses more than just Windows software, I decided to open this topic to gather related entries in one place.

I'll try to give each program its own standard post, but feel free to contribute in any way you see fit.

As a boilerplate, I extracted the Python segment from a recent infographic comparing all the main coding languages, but for a quick overview (available in multiple languages) check http://learnxinyminutes.com/docs/python/.


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Midas
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Re: Portable Python

#2 Post by Midas »

Since it's the only one that has an entry in TPFC's database, let's start with with Portable Python (http://www.portablefreeware.com/?id=1154).
Portable Python is a Python® programming language pre-configured to run directly on the Windows OS from any USB storage device, enabling you to have, at any time, a portable programming environment. Just download it, extract to your portable storage device or hard drive and in 10 minutes you are ready to create your next Python® application.
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Current Portable Python releases are v2.7.6.1 and v3.2.5.1 can be downloaded from http://portablepython.com/wiki/Download/.

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Midas
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Re: UliPad

#3 Post by Midas »

Now, the quickest way to test your hand with might be by using a programmer's text editor providing Python integration; although its development appears to have slacked lately, after a bout of jumping hosts, multi-platform UliPad might just fit the bill ("built-in python interactive window based on PyShell, support Unicode"; portability untested!).
http://code.google.com/p/ulipad/ wrote:Ulipad is a wxPython powered, programmer oriented and flexible editor. It has many features such as class browser, code auto-complete, html viewer, directory browser, wizard and many others. The most interesting and distinctive feature is the use of mixin technique which makes Ulipad an easy-to-extend programming environment.
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Although UliPad's official webpages are still available (http://github.com/limodou/ulipad and http://code.google.com/p/ulipad/) the best download source for the latest release (v4.1?) appears to be Softpedia at www.softpedia.com /get/Programming/File-Editors/UliPad.shtml.

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Re: Python Tips 1

#4 Post by Midas »

Well, it might be hightime for a couple of useful tips and tricks, garnered from hither and thither; user Gary's comment on the official Portable Python entry deserves to take the lead:

@ https://www.portablefreeware.com/index.php?id=1154#comment2985, Gary wrote:If you only want to experiment with Python, and not be encumbered by a 36MB package, you can copy the python.exe and python25.dll from Portable Python into a directory, and point PSPad to that python.exe as a project compiler. This enables you to create a Python script and execute it within PSPad for < 800k. Additionally, you can 7-Zip Portable Python's Lib directory, since it contains modules you can selectively extract, as needed, for inclusion in your python scripts. The Lib directory compresses to ~2.8MB.

Another relevant tidbit concerning a comparison between the above mentioned portable Python implementations is found at the in the site of OpenSesame, a Python based OSS "experiment builder for the social sciences":
http://osdoc.cogsci.nl/getting-opensesame/running-with-python-portable/ wrote:As of OpenSesame 0.27.2, WinPython (another portable distribution of Python) is used in favor of Portable Python. The advantage of using WinPython is that it is tailored to scientific use, as is reflected in the fact that it contains Spyder (a code editor) and a number of analysis tools (e.g. NumPy and Matplotlib). For a full overview, please refer to the WinPython website. Basically, this means that you run OpenSesame from source using a portable, but full Python environment. This is different from the regular Windows packages, because the OpenSesame source is not compiled into a .exe file. This doesn’t mean that it’s slower, though. It’s simply a different way of packaging, with a number of benefits.

If you really mean to get serious with your Python, Udacity provides a beginner level 3 months (estimated) 6 hours a week online course you can enroll into for free (or else pay to get an official diploma): http://www.udacity.com/course/cs101.
http://www.udacity.com/course/cs101 wrote:In this introduction to computer programming course, you’ll learn and practice key computer science concepts by building your own versions of popular web applications. You’ll learn Python, a powerful, easy-to-learn, and widely used programming language, and you’ll explore computer science basics, as you build your own search engine and social network.

Last, for now, are pointers for two deprecated portable Python projects that might still be useful for the included examples/components:

Python for Windows Portable -- "Python for Windows repacked as portable package (PAF) runtime for automated installation as module into \PortableApps\CommonFiles according to the installer specifications 2.0 from PortableApps.com".
http://code.google.com/p/python-common-portable/

Movable Python -- "A distribution of Python for Windows that doesn't need to be installed. It easily fits onto a USB memory stick or flash drive"
http://www.voidspace.org.uk/python/movpy/

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Re: Python Tips 2

#5 Post by Midas »

Python-guide.org displays prominently the question that grills most newcomers...
http://docs.python-guide.org/en/latest/starting/which-python/ wrote:When choosing a Python interpreter, one looming question is always present: "Should I choose Python 2 or Python 3"? The answer is not as obvious as one might think...

The page recommendation is basically to use Python 3 if you're version indifferent and open to change, but go with Python 2 if you favor stability and a syntax that won't ever change (most sources advise beginners to stick to this option). Python implementation alternatives are then pointed to, largely coinciding with the ones suggested by Python's official site (http://www.python.org/download/alternatives/).
  • Pypy (http://pypy.org/) "PyPy is a fast, compliant alternative implementation of the Python language (2.7.8 and 3.2.5)". Appears to be portable.
  • IronPython (http://ironpython.codeplex.com/) "IronPython is an implementation of the Python [2!] programming language for Microsoft .NET and Mono. It supports an interactive console with fully dynamic compilation. It seamlessly integrates with the rest of the .NET Framework". See also PythonNet (http://pythonnet.github.io/).

Deserving a special mention for portability sake is Anaconda, a multi-platform (Linux, MacOS, and Windows) "completely free enterprise-ready Python distribution for large-scale data processing, predictive analytics, and scientific computing", "including for commercial use and even redistribution" (http://store.continuum.io/cshop/anaconda/).

Moreover, and according to the "Anaconda Quick Start Guide" (check here for a detailed overview):
Continuum Analytics also produces Miniconda installers. "Miniconda" only contains Python and conda, and is much smaller than a full Anaconda installer. There are two variants of the installer: Miniconda is based on Python 2, while Miniconda3 is based on Python 3. Once Miniconda is installed, you can use the conda command to install any other packages and create environments (still containing any version of Python you want).

Please note that "installation" should be taken here as synonym of deployment, not of OS integration.

The real beauty of Miniconda is that it weighs only around 30MB (instead of half-Gig for the full Anaconda), doesn't require administrator privileges, and you can get any additional component simply by typing "conda install PackageName" at its prompt. Miniconda downloads are at http://repo.continuum.io/miniconda/; package index is at http://repo.continuum.io/pkgs/.

Lastly, another batch of related online resources.
(And for more ebooks than you'll ever read, check http://inventwithpython.com/bookshelf/). :mrgreen:

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Re: Everything Python (programming language)

#6 Post by Midas »

Although published commercially by No Starch Press, this book is freely available online:

EDIT: another interesting infographic about programming language choice... (large image, click for full size).

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Re: Everything Python (programming language)

#7 Post by Midas »

Quick note for an article about Python IDEs...

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Re: Everything Python (programming language)

#8 Post by tactictoe »

I personally like PyCharm community Edition.
Why: Good IDE, Pretty good intuitive GUI and lots lots of options.
All source of python I shared are written with this IDE.
Pro might consider the use of this language in some case as its result are fast. A huge community is out there to to help.
And this forum topic is part of it I guess.

Did not know PyCharm was listed in the top 3. Thanks for the Info Midas.

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Re: Thonny

#9 Post by Midas »

Thonny (http://thonny.org/) is an interesting (but sadly non-portable) multi-platform FOSS Python IDE developed by the University of Tartu, in Estonia...
http://thonny.org/ wrote:Thonny comes with Python 3.6 built in, so just one simple installer is needed and you're ready to learn programming. (...) The initial user interface is stripped of all features that may distract beginners.
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Thonny is in active development with the latest release dated 2017-07-22 (see https://bitbucket.org/plas/thonny/src/m ... NGELOG.rst). Downloads are at https://bitbucket.org/plas/thonny/downloads/.

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Re: Everything Python (programming language)

#10 Post by Midas »

SoCLI is a Python app to search Stack Overflow from the CLI...
Using SoCLI you can search and browse Stack Overflow without leaving the terminal.
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Re: Everything Python (programming language)

#11 Post by lintalist »

alina21 wrote: Tue Oct 23, 2018 2:27 amI was always afraid of learning Python.
This wouldn't be spam now would it? I mean if you google a bit you will find many similar posts on many similar fora with nearly identical phrasing how great the tutorial is. All these wonderfully helpful users only have one post at these fora. Strange isn't it.

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Re: Thonny

#12 Post by lintalist »

Midas wrote: Tue Aug 29, 2017 12:36 pmThonny (http://thonny.org/)
Thonny 3.0 released October 18th - https://thonny.org/blog/
Thonny 3.0 has many new features and most of them have been introduced already in previous posts or explained elsewhere:

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Re: Everything Python (programming language)

#13 Post by igorrocha »

It's been a while since the last post here, but I though I might add two resources that probably weren't available at the time of the last topic update:

PythonXY (http://python-xy.github.io/): "Python(x,y) is a scientific-oriented Python Distribution based on Qt and Spyder - see the Plugins page. Its purpose is to help scientific programmers used to interpreted languages (such as MATLAB or IDL) or compiled languages (C/C++ or Fortran) to switch to Python." (quote from their website)

PythonAnywhere (https://www.pythonanywhere.com/): "PythonAnywhere makes it easy to create and run Python programs in the cloud. You can write your programs in a web-based editor or just run a console session from any modern web browser." (quote from their website) -> it's not a portable software, but it fits the purpose of avoiding cluttering your machine with unnecessary installs.

Also, for anyone starting out with Python, there's a ton of online courses to get going. A bundle of these courses can be found here: https://classpert.com/python-programming

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Re: Everything Python (programming language)

#14 Post by Midas »

Hi, igorrocha, thanks for contributing and welcome to TPFC forums. 8)

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Re: Everything Python (programming language)

#15 Post by lintalist »

Microsoft’s Python team wrote:... the Windows team announced the May 2019 Update for Windows 10. In this post we’re going to look at what we, Microsoft’s Python team, have done to make Python easier to install on Windows by helping the community publish to the Microsoft Store and, in collaboration with Windows, adding a default “python.exe” command to help find it.
Source: https://devblogs.microsoft.com/python/p ... 19-update/

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