Python3 Development Environment

We use Python 3.10 (or later) for a lot of our application and GUI development. We recommend Visual Studio Code as your main Python IDE.

Installing Python

Installing Python on Linux

Operating systems based on Ubuntu 22.04 or later ship with Python 3.10 or later by default. It is included in the installation command below anyway, just in case you’ve removed it, or are on a system where it isn’t installed by default.

Important

If you type in the following commands, make sure you scroll and get the entire command. If you prefer to copy and paste, triple-click the third command so you get the whole thing.

We’ll also install the libraries and development tools we use for Python3.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install python3 python3-pip python3-virtualenv python3-dev virtualenv

Warning

Do not ever use sudo pip. If you want to install packages via pip, use a virtual environment.

Installing Python on Mac

We can install Python and everything else we need using Homebrew or MacPorts.

Installing Via MacPorts

sudo port install python310 py310-pip py310-virtualenv
sudo port select --set python python310
sudo port select --set pip py310-pip
sudo port select --set virtualenv py310-virtualenv

Installing Via Homebrew

brew install python@3.10
pip install virtualenv

Installing Python on Windows

Download and install the latest version of Python 3.6 from https://www.python.org/downloads/windows/.

Once that is installed, start your Command Prompt, and run the following command to install the rest of what we need.

python -m pip install --upgrade pip wheel setuptools
python -m pip install virtualenv

Choosing an IDE

There are quite a few IDEs and editors for the Python language. We personally recommend Visual Studio Code.

If you want something else, there are dozens of other options, including PyCharm Community Edition, Brackets, EricIDE, and Spyder.