[Pythonmac-SIG] Good way for beginner to get started with Python?

[Samuel John]

Hi

Python is an excellent choice.

More important than a good editor is ipython to interactively try out stuff and explore.
My Editor is SublimeText (it's not free) but before that, I was happy with Text Wrangler.
I hear that Text Mate 2 gets better. Some use IDLE for teaching, but I don't like the look.

On 07.04.2013, at 02:13, Chris Weisiger <cweisiger at msg.ucsf.edu> wrote:

> My recommendation would be to go with PyGame, but as you note this does require some installation work. Unfortunately as soon as you start getting into being a software developer, the kid gloves come off and you have to learn a lot about how software works. I'm not aware of any one-stop user-friendly installer that will get you up and running in Python with an eye towards games. My best advice is to do the installation for him.
> 
> -Chris
> 
> 
> On Sat, Apr 6, 2013 at 4:22 PM, John Velman <velman at cox.net> wrote:
> I've looked at PyGames, and done a little other googling, and every place
> I've looked says install this, install that, use Home Brew, use Ports,
> don't use Ports, be sure and set such and such an option, be sure and get a
> version greater than x.y...Things that I might do, but I've been at this,
> at least part time, more or less forever.

I happen to be a homebrew core dev and additionally I maintain a [special
set of python software](https://github.com/samueljohn/homebrew-python)
 that is otherwise hard to install because of the
dependencies. Among other things I have PyGame in there.

So if you give [homebrew](http://brew.sh) a chance:

*  Install as written on http://brew.sh: 
   ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.github.com/mxcl/homebrew/go)"
*  brew tap samueljohn/python  # making my python formulae available
*  brew install python
*  brew install gfortran
*  pip install nose  # nose is not in Homebrew because its lightweight pure python
*  brew tap homebrew/headonly  # needed for smpeg. Homebrew will 
*  brew install pygame

> We need something than one can just do, and then learn while doing. Well,
> something Mac like.

We hope to make homebrew as Mac like as a command line tool can get :-)

Feel free to mail me personally or ping me on twitter if you encounter 
difficutlies in the install steps outlined above.

cheers,
 Samuel