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5. Enter the unpacked directory: $ cd Python-2.5 Now you should be able to execute the following commands: ./configure --prefix=$(pwd) make make install You should end up with an executable file called python in the current directory. (If this doesn t work, consult the README file included in the distribution.) Put the current directory in your PATH environment variable, and you re ready to rock. To find out about the other configuration directives, execute this command: ./configure --help

If you re using a Macintosh with a recent version of Mac OS X, you ll have a version of Python installed already. Just open the Terminal application and enter the command python to start it. Even if you would like to install a newer version of Python, you should leave this one alone, as it is used in several parts of the operating system. You could use either MacPorts (http:// macports.org) or Fink (http://finkproject.org), or you could use the distribution from the Python web site, by following these steps: 1. Go to the standard download page (see steps 1 and 2 from the Windows instructions earlier in this chapter). 2. Follow the link for the Mac OS X installer. There should also be a link to the MacPython download page, which has more information. The MacPython page also has versions of Python for older versions of the Mac OS. 3. Once you ve downloaded the installer .dmg file, it will probably mount automatically. If not, simply double-click it. In the mounted disk image, you ll find an installer package (.mpkg) file. If you double-click this, the installation wizard will open, which will take you through the necessary steps.

You now have the standard Python distribution installed. Unless you have a particular interest in alternative solutions, that should be all you need. If you are curious (and, perhaps, feeling a bit courageous), read on.

Several Python distributions are available in addition to the official one. The most wellknown of these is probably ActivePython, which is available for Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, and several UNIX varieties. A slightly less well-known but quite interesting distribution is Stackless Python. These distributions are based on the standard implementation of Python, written in the C programming language. Two distributions that take a different approach are Jython and IronPython. If you re interested in development environments other than IDLE, Table 1-1 lists some options.3 Table 1-1. Some Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) for Python

IDLE Pythonwin ActivePython Komodo Wingware BlackAdder Boa Constructor Anjuta Arachno Python Code Crusader Code Forge Eclipse eric KDevelop VisualWx wxDesigner wxGlade

The standard Python environment Windows-oriented environment Feature-packed; contains Pythonwin IDE Commercial IDE Commercial IDE Commercial IDE and (Qt) GUI builder Free IDE and GUI builder Versatile IDE for Linux/UNIX Commercial IDE Commercial IDE Commercial IDE Popular, flexible, open source IDE Free IDE using Qt Cross-language IDE for KDE Free GUI builder Commercial GUI builder Free GUI builder

http://www.python.org/idle http://www.python.org/download/windows http://www.activestate.com http://www.activestate.com3 http://www.wingware.com http://www.thekompany.com http://boa-constructor.sf.net http://anjuta.sf.net http://www.python-ide.com http://www.newplanetsoftware.com http://www.codeforge.com http://www.eclipse.org http://eric-ide.sf.net http://www.kdevelop.org http://visualwx.altervista.org http://www.roebling.de http://wxglade.sf.net

ActivePython is a Python distribution from ActiveState (http://www.activestate.com). At its core, it s the same as the standard Python distribution for Windows. The main difference is that it includes a lot of extra goodies (modules) that are available separately. It s definitely worth a look if you are running Windows.

Stackless Python is a reimplementation of Python, based on the original code, but with some important internal changes. To a beginning user, these differences won t matter much, and one of the more standard distributions would probably be more useful. The main advantages of Stackless Python are that it allows deeper levels of recursion and more efficient multithreading. As mentioned, both of these are rather advanced features, not needed by the average user. You can get Stackless Python from http://www.stackless.com. Jython (http://www.jython.org) and IronPython (http://www.codeplex.com/IronPython) are different they re versions of Python implemented in other languages. Jython is implemented in Java, targeting the Java Virtual Machine, and IronPython is implemented in C#, targeting the .NET and MONO implementations of the common language runtime (CLR). At the time of writing, Jython is quite stable, but lagging behind Python the current Jython version is 2.2, while Python is at 2.5. There are significant differences in these two versions of the language. IronPython is still rather young, but it is quite usable, and it is reported to be faster than standard Python on some benchmarks.