Appendix A: Installing Python

Get a quick guide to install Python on your local machine.

We'll cover the following

The latest major version of Python is Python 3. Python 2 is no longer supported. Although it comes pre-installed on some operating systems, you should not use it.

Linux

Almost all Linux distributions come pre-installed with Python. Just be sure that you are using Python 3. Some distros come with both Python 2 and Python 3, and you may need to type python3 to use that version.

macOS

From Catalina onwards, Python comes as part of the macOS developer tools, and this is the recommended way to install it for a quick start. If you do not already have the dev tools installed, then type:

Get hands-on with 1200+ tech skills courses.