Home | History | Annotate | Download | only in using
      1 .. highlightlang:: sh
      2 
      3 .. _using-on-unix:
      4 
      5 ********************************
      6  Using Python on Unix platforms
      7 ********************************
      8 
      9 .. sectionauthor:: Shriphani Palakodety
     10 
     11 
     12 Getting and installing the latest version of Python
     13 ===================================================
     14 
     15 On Linux
     16 --------
     17 
     18 Python comes preinstalled on most Linux distributions, and is available as a
     19 package on all others.  However there are certain features you might want to use
     20 that are not available on your distro's package.  You can easily compile the
     21 latest version of Python from source.
     22 
     23 In the event that Python doesn't come preinstalled and isn't in the repositories as
     24 well, you can easily make packages for your own distro.  Have a look at the
     25 following links:
     26 
     27 .. seealso::
     28 
     29    https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/maint-guide/first.en.html
     30       for Debian users
     31    https://en.opensuse.org/Portal:Packaging
     32       for OpenSuse users
     33    https://docs-old.fedoraproject.org/en-US/Fedora_Draft_Documentation/0.1/html/RPM_Guide/ch-creating-rpms.html
     34       for Fedora users
     35    http://www.slackbook.org/html/package-management-making-packages.html
     36       for Slackware users
     37 
     38 
     39 On FreeBSD and OpenBSD
     40 ----------------------
     41 
     42 * FreeBSD users, to add the package use::
     43 
     44      pkg install python3
     45 
     46 * OpenBSD users, to add the package use::
     47 
     48      pkg_add -r python
     49 
     50      pkg_add ftp://ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/4.2/packages/<insert your architecture here>/python-<version>.tgz
     51 
     52   For example i386 users get the 2.5.1 version of Python using::
     53 
     54      pkg_add ftp://ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/4.2/packages/i386/python-2.5.1p2.tgz
     55 
     56 
     57 On OpenSolaris
     58 --------------
     59 
     60 You can get Python from `OpenCSW <https://www.opencsw.org/>`_.  Various versions
     61 of Python are available and can be installed with e.g. ``pkgutil -i python27``.
     62 
     63 
     64 .. _building-python-on-unix:
     65 
     66 Building Python
     67 ===============
     68 
     69 If you want to compile CPython yourself, first thing you should do is get the
     70 `source <https://www.python.org/downloads/source/>`_. You can download either the
     71 latest release's source or just grab a fresh `clone
     72 <https://devguide.python.org/setup/#getting-the-source-code>`_.  (If you want
     73 to contribute patches, you will need a clone.)
     74 
     75 The build process consists in the usual ::
     76 
     77    ./configure
     78    make
     79    make install
     80 
     81 invocations. Configuration options and caveats for specific Unix platforms are
     82 extensively documented in the :source:`README.rst` file in the root of the Python
     83 source tree.
     84 
     85 .. warning::
     86 
     87    ``make install`` can overwrite or masquerade the :file:`python3` binary.
     88    ``make altinstall`` is therefore recommended instead of ``make install``
     89    since it only installs :file:`{exec_prefix}/bin/python{version}`.
     90 
     91 
     92 Python-related paths and files
     93 ==============================
     94 
     95 These are subject to difference depending on local installation conventions;
     96 :envvar:`prefix` (``${prefix}``) and :envvar:`exec_prefix` (``${exec_prefix}``)
     97 are installation-dependent and should be interpreted as for GNU software; they
     98 may be the same.
     99 
    100 For example, on most Linux systems, the default for both is :file:`/usr`.
    101 
    102 +-----------------------------------------------+------------------------------------------+
    103 | File/directory                                | Meaning                                  |
    104 +===============================================+==========================================+
    105 | :file:`{exec_prefix}/bin/python3`             | Recommended location of the interpreter. |
    106 +-----------------------------------------------+------------------------------------------+
    107 | :file:`{prefix}/lib/python{version}`,         | Recommended locations of the directories |
    108 | :file:`{exec_prefix}/lib/python{version}`     | containing the standard modules.         |
    109 +-----------------------------------------------+------------------------------------------+
    110 | :file:`{prefix}/include/python{version}`,     | Recommended locations of the directories |
    111 | :file:`{exec_prefix}/include/python{version}` | containing the include files needed for  |
    112 |                                               | developing Python extensions and         |
    113 |                                               | embedding the interpreter.               |
    114 +-----------------------------------------------+------------------------------------------+
    115 
    116 
    117 Miscellaneous
    118 =============
    119 
    120 To easily use Python scripts on Unix, you need to make them executable,
    121 e.g. with
    122 
    123 .. code-block:: shell-session
    124 
    125    $ chmod +x script
    126 
    127 and put an appropriate Shebang line at the top of the script.  A good choice is
    128 usually ::
    129 
    130    #!/usr/bin/env python3
    131 
    132 which searches for the Python interpreter in the whole :envvar:`PATH`.  However,
    133 some Unices may not have the :program:`env` command, so you may need to hardcode
    134 ``/usr/bin/python3`` as the interpreter path.
    135 
    136 To use shell commands in your Python scripts, look at the :mod:`subprocess` module.
    137 
    138 
    139 Editors and IDEs
    140 ================
    141 
    142 There are a number of IDEs that support Python programming language.
    143 Many editors and IDEs provide syntax highlighting, debugging tools, and :pep:`8` checks.
    144 
    145 Please go to `Python Editors <https://wiki.python.org/moin/PythonEditors>`_ and
    146 `Integrated Development Environments <https://wiki.python.org/moin/IntegratedDevelopmentEnvironments>`_
    147 for a comprehensive list.
    148