{"id":2474,"date":"2017-01-10T15:50:34","date_gmt":"2017-01-10T23:50:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/?p=2474"},"modified":"2023-04-27T04:39:09","modified_gmt":"2023-04-27T11:39:09","slug":"how-to-install-python-on-windows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/data-science\/how-to-install-python-on-windows\/","title":{"rendered":"How to install Python on Windows: Three options"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Intro: How to install Python on Windows<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Python is a widely-used general-purpose programming language. It\u2019s a great tool for data scientists for data exploration, visualization, and analysis and is one of the most popular tools for data mining&nbsp;and data wrangling. You&#8217;re going to want to learn how to install Python if you want to work with data and have access to powerful Python libraries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.yhat.com\/static\/img\/python-logo.png\" alt=\"how to install python\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.python.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.python.org\/<\/a> to learn more about Python and the Python Software Foundation!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<center><\/center>\n\n\n\n<center><\/center>\n\n\n\n<center><\/center>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the huge perks of Python over SAS is that Python is open source and totally free. One of the downsides is that despite the Python community\u2019s attempts to make it an accessible tool for everyone, a lot of folks find the installation process daunting or confusing. It&#8217;s hard sometimes to find exactly how to get started with your feet running and there aren&#8217;t many clear and comprehensive guides on the multiple ways how to install Python.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today we&#8217;ll cover three ways how to install Python on your Microsoft Windows computer step by step. All you&#8217;ll need is an internet connection to get started!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Option 1 (Recommended)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The easiest and fastest way to get started with the Python programming language is to download Yhat\u2019s free Python app, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yhat.com\/products\/rodeo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rodeo<\/a>. The app includes a text editor where you can write and execute Python code, plus useful additions like a history tab, file navigator, and plots tab. It also has a few introductory tutorials in the sidebar for folks who are totally new to Python.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.yhat.com\/static\/img\/rodeo-logo.png\" alt=\"how to install python\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Rodeo comes with Python installed as part of the app download so that you don\u2019t have to do any additional steps before you start using Python. Rodeo comes with a distribution of Python called Miniconda, which we discuss below, plus the additional \u201cplace\u201d or environment dedicated to writing Python code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.yhat.com\/static\/img\/rodeo-hello.png\" alt=\"how to install python\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">To download Rodeo (includes Miniconda, and therefore Python):<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Go to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yhat.com\/products\/rodeo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.yhat.com\/products\/rodeo<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Click the blue <code>Download for Windows<\/code> button, or if the button reads <code>Download for Mac<\/code>, click the \u201cOther Platforms\u201d subtext below and select <code>Windows<\/code><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A file with the extension <code>.exe<\/code> should begin to download<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Double click the <code>.exe<\/code> file and follow the instructions on the screen. If you\u2019re unsure about any setting, simply accept the defaults as they can all be changed later.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>When you\u2019re finished, the Rodeo app will open. Python is included and already installed, so you can get straight to coding in the text editor (top left pane))! For example, try typing <code>print(\u201cHello world!\u201d)<\/code> and pressing command+return, or clicking the <code>Run Line<\/code>button.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"bg-leaf-50 p-4 my-3\"><h4 class=\"fw-bold text-center\">Get To Know Other\tData Science Students<\/h4><div class=\"row row-cols-1 row-cols-lg-3\"><div class=\"col\"><div class=\"card success-story-card h-100 d-flex justify-content-between mb-0\"><div class=\"flex-grow-1 text-center\"><a class=\"d-inline-block rounded-circle\" href=\"\/success\/diana-xie\" style=\"width:125px;height:125px;overflow:hidden\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/springboard-images\/image\/upload\/v1629203192\/Student%20Success\/Diana_Xie_125x125.png\" alt=\"Diana Xie\" style=\"object-fit:contain;max-width:170px;height:125px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"fw-bold mb-0\">Diana Xie<\/p><p class=\"text-muted lh-1\">Machine Learning Engineer at IQVIA<\/p><\/div><div class=\"w-100 d-block d-md-none mt-3\"><\/div><p class=\"mb-0 mx-auto text-center\"><a class=\"btn btn-primary mx-auto\" href=\"\/success\/diana-xie\">Read Story<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/div><div class=\"col d-none d-md-block\"><div class=\"card success-story-card h-100 d-flex justify-content-between mb-0\"><div class=\"flex-grow-1 text-center\"><a class=\"d-inline-block rounded-circle\" href=\"\/success\/rane-najera-wynne\" style=\"width:125px;height:125px;overflow:hidden\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/springboard-images\/image\/upload\/v1659153158\/Student%20Success\/Rane_Najera_Wynne.jpg\" alt=\"Rane Najera-Wynne\" style=\"object-fit:contain;max-width:170px;height:125px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"fw-bold mb-0\">Rane Najera-Wynne<\/p><p class=\"text-muted lh-1\">Data Steward\/data Analyst at BRIDGE<\/p><\/div><p class=\"mb-0 mx-auto text-center\"><a class=\"btn btn-primary mx-auto\" href=\"\/success\/rane-najera-wynne\">Read Story<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/div><div class=\"col d-none d-md-block\"><div class=\"card success-story-card h-100 d-flex justify-content-between mb-0\"><div class=\"flex-grow-1 text-center\"><a class=\"d-inline-block rounded-circle\" href=\"\/success\/corey-wade\" style=\"width:125px;height:125px;overflow:hidden\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/springboard-images\/image\/upload\/v1680712086\/Corey_Wade_LinkedIn.jpg\" alt=\"Corey Wade\" style=\"object-fit:contain;max-width:170px;height:125px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"fw-bold mb-0\">Corey Wade<\/p><p class=\"text-muted lh-1\">Founder And Director at Berkeley Coding Academy<\/p><\/div><p class=\"mb-0 mx-auto text-center\"><a class=\"btn btn-primary mx-auto\" href=\"\/success\/corey-wade\">Read Story<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Option 2 (Anaconda)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Anaconda is a free distribution of Python provided by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.continuum.io\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Continuum Analytics<\/a>. It includes a lot of the most popular data science packages installed as well (150 in total + another 250 can be installed with the <code>conda install<\/code> command), ready for use. Unlike Rodeo, when you download Anaconda, you do not also get an environment (you\u2019ll often hear them called IDE\u2019s, which stands for an interactive development environment) for doing your data exploration\/analysis with Python. To be specific, Rodeo actually installs with Miniconda, which is a lighter alternative to Anaconda. Minconda comes just with Python and conda. Here&#8217;s a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.continuum.io\/content\/conda-data-science\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">great post<\/a>&nbsp;about the differences between Conda, Anaconda, and Miniconda on Continuum&#8217;s blog if you want to know more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.yhat.com\/static\/img\/anaconda-logo.png\" alt=\"how to install python\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">To download Anaconda (includes Python):<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Go to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.continuum.io\/downloads\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.continuum.io\/downloads<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Click the green <code>64-bit Installer<\/code> button (unless you want Python 2.7, which will retire in 2020)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A file with the extension <code>.exe<\/code> should begin to download<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Double click the <code>.exe<\/code> file and follow the instructions on the screen. If you\u2019re unsure about any setting, simply accept the defaults as they can all be changed later.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>When you\u2019re finished, a new terminal window will open. If not, click Start &#8211; Run &#8211; Command &#8211; Prompt.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You can start coding in your terminal. For example, try typing <code>print(\u201cHello world!\u201d)<\/code>and pressing return.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.yhat.com\/static\/img\/anaconda-install.png\" alt=\"how to install python\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Option 3 (Bare minimum)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>As we mentioned above, Rodeo or Anaconda will both include Python, as well as additional nice-to-haves. But, if you aren\u2019t interested in downloading an app built for working with Python (Option 1, Rodeo), or many of Python\u2019s most popular packages (Anaconda), you can always download just the bare bones programming language and run it from the command line. This is something that&#8217;s more recommended for expert Python users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.yhat.com\/static\/img\/bare-minimum.jpeg\" alt=\"how to install python\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>To download Python:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Go to https:\/\/www.python.org\/downloads\/windows\/<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Click <code>Latest Python 3 Release - Python 3.6.0<\/code> (as of current date \ud83d\ude42 )<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Scroll to the bottom of the page to the <code>Files<\/code> table and find the <code>Windows x86 executable installer.<\/code> If you want to download a different file type, feel free to do so.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Double click the <code>.exe<\/code> file and follow the instructions on the screen. If you\u2019re unsure about any setting, simply accept the defaults as they can all be changed later.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You will notice that the installation brings up a command prompt window and installs <code>Pip<\/code>, which is a package management tool. <code>Pip<\/code> lets you install any Python package (like those that come in preloaded in Rodeo and Anaconda) that are available for download through <a href=\"https:\/\/pypi.python.org\/pypi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">PyPI<\/a> (Python Package Index).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You can start coding in either your terminal or in IDLE. Simply search for Python in your programs and open either IDE or the command line and run a line of code. For example, try typing <code>print(\u201cHello world!\u201d)<\/code> and pressing return.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Python is extensively popular among <a href=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/data-science\/what-does-a-data-scientist-do\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"24427\">data scientists<\/a> and machine learning engineers and plays an important role in the development of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/data-science\/data-science-definition\/\">data science<\/a> We hope that was a helpful guide on how to install Python on your Windows computer. Good luck &amp; happy data-science-ing!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This was a <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.yhat.com\/posts\/installing-python-on-windows.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">guest post from our friends at Yhat<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"rm has-background\" style=\"background-color:#efeff6\"><strong>Since you\u2019re here\u2026<\/strong>Are you interested in this career track? Investigate with our free guide to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/data-science\/what-does-a-data-scientist-do\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"24427\">what a data professional <em>actually<\/em> does<\/a>. When you\u2019re ready to build a CV that will make hiring managers melt, join our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/courses\/data-science-career-track\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/courses\/data-science-career-track\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Data Science Bootcamp<\/a> which will help you land a job or your tuition back!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Intro: How to install Python on Windows Python is a widely-used general-purpose programming language. It\u2019s a great tool for data scientists for data exploration, visualization, and analysis and is one of the most popular tools for data mining&nbsp;and data wrangling. You&#8217;re going to want to learn how to install Python if you want to work [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":2478,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","_eb_data_table":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[],"marketing_tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2474","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-data-science"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2474"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2474"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2474\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43186,"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2474\/revisions\/43186"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2474"},{"taxonomy":"marketing_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/marketing_tags?post=2474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}