Running Scripts vs Interactive mode

[grobs456]

Hi,

I am trying to work through the tutorial at: http://docs.python.org/tutorial/

The issue I am facing is with regards to the discussion about
"Invoking the Interpreter" and "Executable Python Scripts". It was
rather hazy in my opinion.

see: http://docs.python.org/tutorial/interpreter.html

I realize I can double click on a .py file and Windows treats it as an
executable but the command prompt pops in and out so quickly that I
can't see the results of my script.


I would prefer to follow along with the tutorial, compiling new ticks
and topics into a growing .py file, that I error check of course(in
case the same variables are used throughout the tutorial), and then
run that file to see the results as if I would have typed each line in
one at a time. This way I have something usable to refer back to for
learning purposes and for future coding projects instead of having to
rely on the tutorial itself for my reference moving forward. Any
ideas?

Python is installed at:
C:\Python27

and I ran:
set path=%path%;C:\python27

#do i have to run the above each time I open up a session?
#Also, note that  I do not see the any system environment variables
get updated when I run the above.