Getting set up locally.
WHAT TO INSTALL
The current stable version from the official source.
WHAT TO AVOID
Very old versions Downloads from unofficial sites
WHY THE OFFICIAL SOURCE
Downloads elsewhere may be modified.
THE VERSION QUESTION
Python 2 is long obsolete and unsupported. Anything written for it needs updating.
Use Python 3.
WHAT TO CHECK AFTER INSTALLING
That the version reported matches what you installed That you can run the interpreter from a terminal
THE PATH ISSUE
On some systems the installer offers to add Python to your system path.
Accept it, or commands will not be found.
WHAT ELSE TO INSTALL
A text editor suited to code.
WHAT NOT TO USE
A word processor. It inserts formatting that breaks code.
WHAT TO LEARN IMMEDIATELY
How to run a script from a terminal.
Everything else depends on it.
WHAT TO SET UP NEXT
A virtual environment, covered separately.
