Geekophilia

“Python Foot” graphic by David Day. How To Install Python On Windows XP Instead of being all things to all users, this little how-to assumes the following: You are a Windows user who is curious about computer programming; You would like to install the Python computer language on your Windows machine, start the Python interpreter, and run the classic “Hello World!” program. This post dates to the days of Windows XP, but I update it every year or so. The instructions reportedly work for Windows 7 through 11, too. If you have questions, like “What is Python and why should I install it on my Windows computer?” go read Why Python on Windows XP? Come back if you want to install Python. Back already? Never left? Okay, proceed. A company called ActiveState makes a free, all-in-one Python distribution that has everything you need to run Python on Windows. I don’t work for ActiveState. I am not an affiliate. There is no affiliate id or code in the link I provide to their site. I get no fee or percentage from them. I am not a computer expert, nor am I a computer scientist, just a Python fan. Ready? Assuming you […]

If you don’t know any computer languages, I recommend starting with Python. It is cleanly designed, well documented, and relatively kind to beginners. Despite being a good first language, it is not just a toy; it is very powerful and flexible and well suited for large projects. From How To Become A Hacker, by Eric S. Raymond, author of The Cathedral and the Bazaar and Why Python? Why Python On Windows XP? Python is an interpreted programming language. On Windows, amateurs (like me) use it as a scripting language. If you’ve dabbled in creating macros in Microsoft Word or experimented with various hot-key or keyboard macro programs, you have a mere inkling of how useful a scripting language can be. Learning to program in a REAL computer language, like Python, enables you to make small, fast, accurate, customized scripts and “applets” that do exactly what you want them to do on your computer. A simple example will suffice. Isn’t Google Desktop Search handy? Yes. Sometimes. But how often does your search produce “179 emails, 468 files, 273 Web History.” Instead of loading huge indexing programs to find a single file, wouldn’t it be nice if you could type a few […]