Install Python

To install Python using the Microsoft Store:

1. Go to your Start menu (lower left Windows icon), type "Microsoft Store", select the
link to open the store.

2. Once the store is open, select Search from the upper-right menu and enter
"Python". Select which version of Python you would like to use from the results
under Apps. We recommend using the most recent unless you have a reason not
to (such as aligning with the version used on a pre-existing project that you plan to
work on). Once you've determined which version you would like to install,
select Get.

3. Once Python has completed the downloading and installation process, open
Windows PowerShell using the Start menu (lower left Windows icon). Once
PowerShell is open, enter Python --version to confirm that Python3 has installed
on your machine.

4. The Microsoft Store installation of Python includes pip, the standard package

manager. Pip allows you to install and manage additional packages that are not
part of the Python standard library. To confirm that you also have pip available to
install and manage packages, enter pip --version.

Install Visual Studio Code

By using VS Code as your text editor / integrated development environment (IDE), you
can take advantage of IntelliSense (a code completion aid), Linting (helps avoid making
errors in your code), Debug support (helps you find errors in your code after you run
it), Code snippets (templates for small reusable code blocks), and Unit testing (testing
your code's interface with different types of input).

VS Code also contains a built-in terminal that enables you to open a Python command
line with Windows Command prompt, PowerShell, or whatever you prefer, establishing a
seamless workflow between your code editor and command line.

1. To install VS Code, download VS Code for Windows: https://code.visualstudio.com.

2. Once VS Code has been installed, you must also install the Python extension. To
install the Python extension, you can select the VS Code Marketplace link or open
VS Code and search for Python in the extensions menu (Ctrl+Shift+X).

3. Python is an interpreted language, and in order to run Python code, you must tell
VS Code which interpreter to use. We recommend using the most recent version of
Python unless you have a specific reason for choosing something different. Once
you've installed the Python extension, select a Python 3 interpreter by opening
the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P), start typing the command Python: Select
Interpreter to search, then select the command. You can also use the Select
Python Environment option on the bottom Status Bar if available (it may already
show a selected interpreter). The command presents a list of available interpreters
that VS Code can find automatically, including virtual environments. If you don't
see the desired interpreter, see Configuring Python environments.

4. To open the terminal in VS Code, select View > Terminal, or alternatively use the

shortcut Ctrl+` (using the backtick character). The default terminal is PowerShell.

5. Inside your VS Code terminal, open Python by simply entering the

command: python

6. Try the Python interpreter out by entering: print("Hello World"). Python will return
your statement "Hello World".
Install Git (optional)

If you plan to collaborate with others on your Python code, or host your project on an
open-source site (like GitHub), VS Code supports version control with Git. The Source
Control tab in VS Code tracks all of your changes and has common Git commands (add,
commit, push, pull) built right into the UI. You first need to install Git to power the
Source Control panel.
 1. Download and install Git for Windows from the git-scm website.

2. An Install Wizard is included that will ask you a series of questions about settings
for your Git installation. We recommend using all of the default settings, unless
you have a specific reason for changing something.

3. If you've never worked with Git before, GitHub Guides can help you get started.

Hello World tutorial for some Python basics

Python, according to its creator Guido van Rossum, is a “high-level programming

language, and its core design philosophy is all about code readability and a syntax
which allows programmers to express concepts in a few lines of code.”

Python is an interpreted language. In contrast to compiled languages, in which the code

you write needs to be translated into machine code in order to be run by your
computer's processor, Python code is passed straight to an interpreter and run directly.
You just type in your code and run it. Let's try it!

1. With your PowerShell command line open, enter python to run the Python 3
interpreter. (Some instructions prefer to use the command py or python3, these
should also work). You will know that you're successful because a >>> prompt
with three greater-than symbols will display.

2. There are several built-in methods that allow you to make modifications to strings
in Python. Create a variable, with: variable = 'Hello World!'. Press Enter for a new
line.

3. Print your variable with: print(variable). This will display the text "Hello World!".

4. Find out the length, how many characters are used, of your string variable
with: len(variable). This will display that there are 12 characters used. (Note that
the blank space it counted as a character in the total length.)

5. Convert your string variable to upper-case letters: variable.upper(). Now convert

your string variable to lower-case letters: variable.lower().

6. Count how many times the letter "l" is used in your string
variable: variable.count("l").
 7. Search for a specific character in your string variable, let's find the exclamation
point, with: variable.find("!"). This will display that the exclamation point is found
in the 11th position character of the string.

8. Replace the exclamation point with a question mark: variable.replace("!", "?").

9. To exit Python, you can enter exit(), quit(), or select Ctrl-Z.

Hope you had fun using some of Python's built-in string modification methods. Now try
creating a Python program file and running it with VS Code.

Hello World tutorial for using Python with VS Code

The VS Code team has put together a great Getting Started with Python tutorial walking
through how to create a Hello World program with Python, run the program file,
configure and run the debugger, and install packages like matplotlib and numpy to
create a graphical plot inside a virtual environment.

1. Open PowerShell and create an empty folder called "hello", navigate into this
folder, and open it in VS Code:

ConsoleCopy

mkdir hello
 cd hello
code .

2. Once VS Code opens, displaying your new hello folder in the left-

side Explorer window, open a command line window in the bottom panel of VS
Code by pressing Ctrl+` (using the backtick character) or
selecting View > Terminal. By starting VS Code in a folder, that folder becomes
your "workspace". VS Code stores settings that are specific to that workspace
in .vscode/settings.json, which are separate from user settings that are stored
globally.

3. Continue the tutorial in the VS Code docs: Create a Python Hello World source
code file.

4. import sys, pygame

5.
6. pygame.init()
7.
8. size = width, height = 640, 480
9. dx = 1
10. dy = 1
11. x= 163
12. y = 120
13. black = (0,0,0)
14. white = (255,255,255)
15.
16. screen = pygame.display.set_mode(size)
17.
18. while 1:
19.
20. for event in pygame.event.get():
21. if event.type == pygame.QUIT: sys.exit()
22.
23. x += dx
24. y += dy
25.
26. if x < 0 or x > width:
27. dx = -dx
28.
29. if y < 0 or y > height:
30. dy = -dy
31.
32. screen.fill(black)
33.
34. pygame.draw.circle(screen, white, (x,y), 8)
35.
36. pygame.display.flip()
37.

38. Save it as: bounce.py.

 39. From the PowerShell terminal, run it by entering: python bounce.py.

Try adjusting some of the numbers to see what effect they have on your bouncing ball.

Read more about writing games with pygame at pygame.org.

Resources for continued learning

We recommend the following resources to support you in continuing to learn about

Python development on Windows.

40. Microsoft Dev Blogs: Python: Read the latest updates about all things Python at
Microsoft.