Fwd: Newcomer Help

[Ned Deily]

In article <675340207.6922848.1392048622415.JavaMail.root at okbu.edu>,
 Walter Hughey <wkhughey at gmail.com> wrote:

> I am new to Python programming, actually new to any programming language. I 
> sent the email below to the "pythonmac-sig at python.org a few days ago. So far 
> I have not seen a reply, actually, I have not seen anything from pythonmac in 
> any emails although I am supposed to be a member.

That's too bad!  It may be that your email is being held for moderation 
on the list, especially if you haven't subscribed or are just 
subscribing.

https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/pythonmac-sig
 
> I don't know if I am sending these to the correct place or if I am not 
> receiving emails from the pythonmac list. I would appreciate any assistance 
> either in how do I get to the pythonmac list or answers to the issue below. I 
> went to the pythonmac list because I am trying to run Python 3.3 on a Mac 
> computer. 
> 
> 
> Thank you, 
> 
> 
> Walter 
> ----- Original Message -----
> 
> From: "Walter Hughey" <wkhughey at gmail.com> 
> To: pythonmac-sig at python.org 
> Sent: Friday, February 7, 2014 11:54:49 AM 
> Subject: Newcomer Help 
> 
> 
> Greetings, 
> I am new at Python programming, technically a newbie at writing programming 
> code. I have been involved in the maintenance of computers for several years 
> and have decided to increase my knowledge and experience. I am taking a 
> course that - although not a programming course - does require writing of 
> code. I am trying to use Python to write the code. 
> 
> 
> I use a Mac computer and the first issue is getting working with Python. The 
> computer I currently use is running Mac OS X 10.6.8, Intel Core i5 Processor, 
> with 4GB RAM. It has Python 2.3, 2.5, and 2.6 installed by Apple. I have 
> added Python 3.3, the version our Professor recommended. I have checked out 
> the Python installed by Apple and can enter in code and it works, but I need 
> to create a file, run it, and then provide it for the Professor to grade and 
> I don't know how with the Apple installed version. 
> 
> 
> While reading about Python, I saw comments about the note concerning outdated 
> software: If you are using Python from a python.org 64-bit/32-bit Python 
> installer for Mac OS X 10.6 and later , you should only use IDLE or tkinter 
> with an updated third-party Tcl/Tk 8.5, like ActiveTcl 8.5 installed. 
> 
> 
> I located, downloaded and installed the recommended version of ActiveTcl 
> 8.5.15.0. When I open Idle, I see a warning that "The version of Tcl/Tk 
> (8.5.7) in use may be unstable." I received this warning both before and 
> after installing the software above. I open Idle, choose "New File" then most 
> often the computer will freeze, Idle does nothing, cannot enter text into the 
> text box, cannot close the application either with the red circle or by 
> selecting Idle>Close Idle. As often as that, Idle freezes as soon as I open 
> new file, and I cannot close without resorting to Force Quit. 

That should work. Just to be sure, here are the URLs for the current 
ActiveTcl and python.org 3.3 installers for OS X 10.6.

http://downloads.activestate.com/ActiveTcl/releases/8.5.15.0/ActiveTcl8.5
.15.1.297588-macosx10.5-i386-x86_64-threaded.dmg
http://www.python.org/ftp/python/3.3.4/python-3.3.4-macosx10.6.dmg

Make sure you have quit IDLE before installing both.  After installing, 
go to the /Applications/Python 3.3 folder and double-click on the IDLE 
icon.  You should not see the "(8.5.7) may be unstable" message.  As 
others have noted, though, you could use another editor and just run 
python3.3 from a Terminal window command line:

/usr/local/bin/python3.3 your_filename_here.py

Good luck!

-- 
 Ned Deily,
 nad at acm.org