Installation

Installing Python on your PC or Laptop

Long ago, when I began working with Python, there were two major versions.

Version 2.x was the legacy version and it had a wide range of libraries available, it was very well supported.

Around that time, Version 3.x was released, and code wasn't fully compatible with the old version.

In recent years, everyone has stopped using the old releases, you should only work now in version 3.x, and generally use the latest release. If you understand version 3.x code, you will have no issue following version 2.x code.

Each minor release adds some new functionality and includes bug fixes and performance enhancements. These are generally backward compatible, code written in version 3.8 works fine in version 3.12.

Testing

In Windows or Linux, check to see if python is installed by typing python - -version

University Laboratories

Python should already be installed. Otherwise, Software Centre should have a version.

Windows 10 or 11 computer or Azure Labs

You can install Python via the app store.

Alternatively, read the installation documentation.

Then go here download the latest version of Python 3.x but use the Windows Installer (64-bit).

Linux computer

Any version of Ubuntu I work with has Python 3 already installed. One of the best ways to do this work is on a Linux VM. As I am writing these notes, I am using Ubuntu 24.04LTS.

Apple computer

This all works fine on macOS, unfortunately, I do not use this OS and I cannot support it.

Alternatives

Anyone studying data science or AI/ML will probably use a different distribution; Anaconda or sometimes, Miniconda. They may also use Jupyter Notebooks. We will not look at these alternatives here.