Learning Python with pip, cmder and/or virtualenv...

[RodNintendeaux]

I hear a lot of people say, "I am a quick study!" And that is great, Dr. Strange is better for it, but me, I am not one. I could, if pushed, be a bit quick, but in my experience, the more I learn by slowing down and taking my time and doing it right, the better I am for it. It is just who I am. Nothing against quick studies. I am also a visual learner, yet love to read. So I am not afraid to watch hours of video to visualize something or read a book, website, blog, etc., to gain knowledge on a subject.

With that said, I seek council on what I am discovering lately with Python and some tools of the trade. I would like to know what resources you use (the experienced users) to make your Python learning and productivity worthwhile. Specifically, pip, cmder and virtualenv. With a small focus on how you use github, too, if you have the time.

These three tools are listed in about half a dozen books, websites, blogs and videos for learning Python as a beginner. And github seems to be the go-to for all collaboration for many, many projects out there, but my experience with it is highly limited, so I have started an online course to learn how it works and see what I can do to help those that come behind me. I have a long way to go.

Are these the best tools to learn with Python? If not, what do you recommend I use to make my learning more effective? And can you list your sources of information so that I can dive into the knowledge and come out better for it?

Eager to learn,

-Rod

[Larz60+]

Of course the very first thing I do is google the subject I'm interested in.

Most all software will be stored on github, and indexed on Pypi.

Generally, if I am looking for a package, I'll first search Pypi: https://pypi.python.org/pypi
and see what is recent or updated recently, and also look at the number of downloads and
then try the package before committing to it.

I have a tool that exposes details of each package here: https://github.com/Larz60p/PyPiInfo

I use PyCharm as an IDE, but am in the process of converting to atom, because of
recommendations of other admins and moderators on this forum.

You can often find example code here: http://nullege.com/, or on sourceforge.

There are some very good resources on this forum in the tutorial section of this forum, and a list of resources here: https://python-forum.io/Thread-A-List-of...-Resources

There are also some excellent tutorials that were written by members of the forum in the tutorials section
some great ones on web scraping and tool installation by snippsat.

On gaming by metulburr, and many others.

[sparkz_alot]

I'm pretty much a minimalist
For basic Python tasks (i.e.: using pip to install, upgrade or remove modules; run some quick 1 or two liners, etc) on Windows I use the command terminal (cmd.exe), on Linux I use xterm.

For editing files quickly, on Windows I use Notepad++ (free), on Linux I use Kate (free).

For writing my 'serious' scripts, I use PyCharm Community Edition (free) on both Windows and Linux.

[snippsat]

Learning Python with pip, cmder and/or virtualenv...

I have tutorials about this part-1, part-2

[RodNintendeaux]

Learning Python with pip, cmder and/or virtualenv...

I have tutorials about this part-1, part-2

Then help with this, please:

c:\my_env
(my_env) λ import requests
'import' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

c:\my_env
(my_env) λ from bs4 import BeautifulSoup
'from' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

[sparkz_alot]

You atill need to invoke python, for example on Windows:

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.14393]
(c) 2016 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\>python
Python 3.6.1 (v3.6.1:69c0db5, Mar 21 2017, 18:41:36) [MSC v.1900 64 bit (AMD64)] on win32
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>>

Note the ">>>"

If you have multiple versions of Python, you would call 'python' (invokes the default version), 'python2', 'python3', 'python3.6' and so forth.

[RodNintendeaux]

To my knowledge, I only have 64-bit 3.6.1:

This is my output from cmder when I type python:

Output:
λ python
Python 3.6.1 (v3.6.1:69c0db5, Mar 21 2017, 18:41:36) [MSC v.1900 64 bit (AMD64)] on win32
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>>

I followed his walkthrough perfectly (I think, even triple-checked my work), yet a no-go on the input.  

[snippsat]

This is my output from cmder when I type python:

Yes and now you type python commands,you have typed Python commands from command line.

>>> import requests
>>> r = requests.get('https://www.python.org/')
>>> r.status_code
200

[RodNintendeaux]

This is my output from cmder when I type python:

Yes and now you type python commands,you have typed Python commands from command line.

>>> import requests
>>> r = requests.get('https://www.python.org/')
>>> r.status_code
200

Well that makes sense! Thank you!