There are several ways to install and manage Python on the Mac. The install steps that I describe below are arguably the simplest approach to getting Python 3 up and running on your machine.
❗ Both Python 3.8.1 and the maintenance release Python 3.7.6 were released on 18 December 2019. You can install either version but I recommend opting for Python 3.8.1 since it constitutes the default download release version.
Mac includes a Unix terminal called Terminal.app that you can use to issue Bash shell commands. Use Finder to locate
Terminal.app in the directory Applications/Utilities/. You can traverse the directory structure by clicking on
each folder or use the keyboard shortcut: (Command + Shift + U).
💡 I recommend dragging the Terminal.app icon to your dock in order to simplify accessing Terminal.app in future
(you will be using it frequently).
Double-click Terminal.app's icon to open it. The terminal opens with a white background. If you want to change the background color see the following StackExchange thread.
❗ To close a terminal session type 'exit' at the prompt and then press Return key.
At the prompt, type the following line python --version and then press the Return key:
$ python --version
Python 2.7.10
Mac comes with Python 2.7.x pre-installed. You need Python 3. Check and see if you have Python 3.x installed:
$ python3 --version
Python 3.7.6
If Python 3.7.x or 3.8.x is installed you are in good shape and need do nothing more. The more likely scenario is that no version information is returned. No problem, installing Python 3 is not difficult.
Go to the Python Software Foundation website. Hover over "Downloads" on the blue menu bar. Your macOS operating system version should have been detected on the page load (misidentified as Mac OS X--the old name) and the link to the Python 3.8.x release package displayed as a grey button. Click the grey button to download the install package.
Once downloaded to your Downloads directory, double-click the Python 3.8.x *.pkg file. Click the "Continue" button
and proceed with the installation. I recommend installing Python 3 in the default Applications directory.
The Python installer will install the Python framework in the directory /Library/Frameworks/. You can confirm this
by typing which python3 in the terminal and then press the Return key:
$ which python3
/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.8/bin/python3
The Python installer also installs Python's Integrated Development and Learning Environment (IDLE). The IDLE
app provides a multi-window text editor, interactive shell window, search/replace, and debugger. It is one of several
text editors that you can use to write and test Python code. To learn more about IDLE
see https://docs.python.org/3/library/idle.html.
I recommend that instead of using IDLE you download, install, and use Microsoft's popular (and free) Visual Studio Code. See the companion tutorial Windows 10: Installing Visual Studio Code for installation instructions.
There are of course other solutions that you can choose. A few of the more popular apps include:
- Atom,
- Sublime Text or
- PyCharm interactive development environment (IDE) [note: you must apply to JetBrain's for a free student license]
That said, VS Code is all the rage these days and I suggest that you try it out.
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