Talk:Python Concepts/Introduction and Setup

IDLE

The present version focuses too much on IDLE. — Fnielsen (discuss • contribs) 17:25, 9 January 2014 (UTC)

Although I have not mastered it, this looks really good. I never understood shells.--guyvan52 (discuss • contribs) 04:26, 11 December 2014 (UTC)

Thanks! It's still a work in progress as I need to elaborate on some things within this resource. --I8086 (discuss • contribs) 18:38, 11 December 2014 (UTC)

Computer Speak

I presume this was a grammar error and not computerspeak; I added the bold d: Window users, by default, Python files are executed with py.exe--Guy vandegrift (discuss • contribs) 23:37, 31 March 2015 (UTC)

You are correct, it should be executed. That's just one of many copyedits needed on this page. --I8086 (discuss • contribs) 01:37, 1 April 2015 (UTC)

Something that confused this novice

Before you we go ahead, you should open up the python prompt in your operating system's shell. Simply open up a new shell and type python into it. Congratulations, you now have a working Python interpreter.

I would have added this footnote myself, but am such a novice I am not even sure this is true.--Guy vandegrift (discuss • contribs) 23:19, 2 April 2015 (UTC)

That would be true for pre-Windows 8 (Windows 8 doesn't have a start button, although something similiar was brought back in 8.1). Nowadays, with Windows taking a new direction and operating systems changing up the desktop to make it the "next big thing", where the shell (command prompt on Windows) is can be hazy at times. I think it would be good to add a footnote for pre-Windows 8 users, though. --I8086 (discuss • contribs) 23:28, 2 April 2015 (UTC)

--Thanks. I will go ahead and add the footnote with the comment that this is pre Windows 8. Here is another section that was way over my head:

I ran py from the shell and got this:

Python 3.4.3 (v3.4.3:9b73f1c3e601, Feb 24 2015, 22:44:40) [MSC v.1600 64 bit (AMD64)] on win32
Type "copyright", "credits" or "license()" for more information.
>>> 

I assume that means that our IT guys set this up properly.--Guy vandegrift (discuss • contribs) 23:37, 2 April 2015 (UTC)

Yes, it can be assumed that they did. For some reason, when installing Python on some versions of Windows, its possible that default could be 2.X . This seems to especially plague Windows XP. It might be better to change usually to sometimes, to reduce emphasize. --I8086 (discuss • contribs) 23:43, 2 April 2015 (UTC)

Should I mention the "trick" of running py and seeing which version runs?--Guy vandegrift (discuss • contribs) 23:52, 2 April 2015 (UTC)

Yessir! --I8086 (discuss • contribs) 23:53, 2 April 2015 (UTC)

Proposed deletion

Telling novices that they shouldn't do something they don't know how to do seems unnecesaary.--Guy vandegrift (discuss • contribs) 00:03, 3 April 2015 (UTC)

Agreed as stated below. --I8086 (discuss • contribs) 01:16, 3 April 2015 (UTC)

Proposed simplification

Replace:

An alternative for any OS is to open IDLE via the shell. It can be accessed with this command: python -m idlelib. Note: that this will open the IDLE shell. To create a Python script, you'll need to click File and then New File. It's a lot easier to do the first, if it's available on your system.

By:

An alternative is to open IDLE via the shell using the command: python -m idlelib.

Rationale: You don't need to tell a novice that doing something from the shell is not as easy.--Guy vandegrift (discuss • contribs) 00:07, 3 April 2015 (UTC)

Agreed, content here should be for new comers and, in general, shorting or removing some of these boxes would make the page look nicer. --I8086 (discuss • contribs) 01:15, 3 April 2015 (UTC)

Do you want to use footnotes?

@I8086: I reinserted your advanced solution as a footnote, but as the main hawk on this page you need to decide how much you want to use them. Wikipedia tends to frown on footnotes, but I am a strong believer in footnotes, as long as too many editors aren't involved. When I write a page by myself, the footnotes stay under control, and instead of a "References" section I use "References and Footnotes". Revert my use of the footnote if you wish.--Guy vandegrift (discuss • contribs) 13:51, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

I don't have a problem with footnotes, so long as they're separated from the references. By separating them, a lot of confusion can be resolved. --I8086 (discuss • contribs) 13:56, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

Pretty cool trick, that <ref group="note"></ref>. Now for my question: Is there any difference between {{reflist}} and <references/>?

I use the latter because I copied it from a page once, but noticed that Wikipedia prefers the former. --Guy vandegrift (discuss • contribs) 16:22, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

As stated on this page,

"It encapsulates the <references /> tag used by the Cite.php MediaWiki extension to show the list of references as defined by <ref> tags. It adds support for a reduced font size, columns, groups and List-defined references.".

So I assume that {{reflist}} is just an extension of <references />. In short, {{reflist}} is just a customizable <references />. --I8086 (discuss • contribs) 17:17, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

IDLE

I was not able to run IDLE using this manual, so I found the way via YouTube. Juandev (discuss • contribs) 19:54, 31 January 2020 (UTC)