Install Python

Python is a high-level and general-purpose programming language with data engineering packages. Use one of the videos below to install on Windows, MacOS, or Linux.

Install Python on Windows

To install Python, follow these steps:

  • Go to Anaconda Distribution or the official Python website and download the latest version. Anaconda is typically one minor version behind (e.g. 3.9) to maximize compatibility of Python packages. The official Python website often has the latest version (e.g. 3.10) of Python but there may be packages that are not yet compatible with the latest version. It typically takes a few months to a year from the latest Python release until most data science and machine learning packages are compatible with that version.
  • (Optional) On the official Python website download page, scroll down to the Looking for previous versions? section and choose the version of Python that you want to install by clicking on the corresponding link. Use the latest version of Python unless you have a specific reason (such as package compatibility) for using an older version.
  • After the download is complete, open the downloaded file and follow the instructions in the installer to complete the installation.

Install Python on Linux or MacOS

If you are using a Linux or MacOS operating system, you may already have Python installed. To check if you have Python installed, open a terminal window and type the following command:

python3 --version
[$[Get Code]]

If Python is installed, this command will print the version number of the installed Python interpreter. If the command is not found, you will need to install Python as described in the video. Once Python is installed, you can verify that the installation was successful by typing the following command in a terminal window:

python3
[$[Get Code]]

This will start the Python interpreter, and you will see the Python prompt where you can enter and run Python commands. To exit the interpreter, type exit() and press Enter.

Install Packages

The power of Python is in the packages that are available either through the pip or conda package managers. Install packages for data-driven engineering after Python is installed.