Simple Question regarding running .py program

[Ramchandra Apte]

On Tuesday, 13 November 2012 08:15:45 UTC+5:30, Caroline Hou  wrote:
> On Monday, 12 November 2012 21:25:08 UTC-5, Dave Angel  wrote:
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> > On 11/12/2012 09:02 PM, Caroline Hou wrote:
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> > > Hi all!
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> > > I just started learning Python by myself and I have an extremely simple question now!
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> > > I am in my Python interpreter now and I want to open/edit a program called nobel.py. But when I typed >>> python nobel.py, it gave me a "SyntaxError:invalid syntax”( I've changed to the correct directory)what should I do?
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> > > I also want to run the program, but as I double-clicked the program, a command window pops up and closes immediately. How can I see the result of the program run?
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> > > Could anyone help me please? I am pretty confused here...Thank you!
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> > It'd be nice to specify that you're running Windows, and also what
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> > version of the interpreter, although in this case the latter doesn't matter.
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> > Go to a shell (cmd.exe), change to the directory containing that script,
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> > and type the command as you did.
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> > On linux:  davea at think:~$ python nobel.py
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> > On Windows:   c:\mydir\myscript > python nobel.py
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> > If you're already in the python interpreter, then running python is
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> > useless -- it's already running.  In that case, you might want to use
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> > import.  However, I recommend against it at first, as it opens up some
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> > other problems you haven't experience with yet.
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> > When you say you "double clicked the program', we have to guess you
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> > might have meant in MS Explorer.  If you do that, it launches a cmd, it
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> > runs the python system, and it closes the cmd.  Blame Windows for not
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> > reading your mind.  If you want the cmd window to stick around, you
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> > COULD end your program with an raw_input function call, but frequently
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> > that won't work.  The right answer is the first one above...   Open a
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> > shell (perhaps with a menu like  DOS BOX), change...
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> > That way, when the program finishes, you can see what happened, or
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> > didn't happen, and you can run it again using the uparrow key.
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> > BTW, you don't need to send email to both the python-list and to the
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> > newsgroup.  The newsgroup is automatically fed from the list.  But since
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> > you're posting from google groups, that's just one of the bugs.  Many
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> > folks here simply filter out everything from google groups, so your post
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> > is invisible to them.
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> > -- 
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> > DaveA
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> Hi Dave!
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> thank you very much for your quick reply! I did manage to get the program run from cmd.exe. 
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> So does it mean that if I want to use python interactively,I should use the interpreter,while if I just want to run a python program, I should use DOS shell instead?
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> Also, how could I edit my script? I have sth called "IDLE" installed along with python. Is it the right place to write/edit my script?
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> Sorry about these semi-idiot questions but it is really hard to find an article or book that covers such basic stuffs! 
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> Thank you!
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> Caroline Hou

IDLE is recommended for newbies like you because an IDE requires too much configuration.
When you start writing a big project, you can use an IDE.