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Invoking the Interpreter

The Python interpreter is usually installed as /usr/local/bin/python3.6 on those machines where it is available; putting /usr/local/bin in your Unix shell’s search path makes it possible to start it by typing the command:

 python3.6

to the shell. Since the choice of the directory where the interpreter lives is an installation option, other places are possible; check with your local Python guru or system administrator. (E.g., /usr/local/python is a popular alternative location.)

On Windows machines, the Python installation is usually placed in C:\Python36 , though you can change this when you’re running the installer. To add this directory to your path, you can type the following command into the command prompt in a DOS box:

 set path=%path%;C:\python36

Typing an end-of-file character ( Control-D on Unix, Control-Z on Windows) at the primary prompt causes the interpreter to exit with a zero exit status. If that doesn't work, you can exit the interpreter by typing the following command: quit() .

The interpreter’s line-editing features include interactive editing, history substitution and code completion on systems that support readline. Perhaps the quickest check to see whether command line editing is supported is typing Control-P to the first Python prompt you get. If it beeps, you have command line editing; see Appendix Interactive Input Editing and History Substitution for an introduction to the keys. If nothing appears to happen, or if ^P is echoed, command line editing isn’t available; you’ll only be able to use backspace to remove characters from the current line.

The interpreter operates somewhat like the Unix shell: when called with standard input connected to a tty device, it reads and executes commands interactively; when called with a file name argument or with a file as standard input, it reads and executes a script from that file.

Some Python modules are also useful as scripts. These can be invoked using python -m module [arg] ... , which executes the source file for module as if you had spelled out its full name on the command line.

When a script file is used, it is sometimes useful to be able to run the script and enter interactive mode afterwards. This can be done by passing -i before the script.

All command line options are described in Command line and environment .