NewSnake seeking pointers to best reading

Hello to the forum from a Win10pro user has installed PY 3.9 and is trying to read to learn to start …
But so far all writers make some large assumptions and I cannot get past very basic ideas (I am a reasonably proficient Windows meddler).
An example is … “On Windows … py -m venv env” …“invoked by going to project directory and run venv.” This from Python.org
I can get to >>> prompt in Windows Command prompt but get syntax error with everything I then type.
Tried IDLE and that gives syntax error always.
Same for ‘Terminal?’ in Python 3.9
Where can I read a guide that actually states what I need to do first ? Project Folder is where ? for example…
Tried to find a beginners section here … failed that too.

Aim is to get to flask / ninja and work from there.

Hi PaulOwen,

In my extremely opinioned, um, opinion, you should forget about any
tutorial that starts off by telling you to use a virtual environment
(venv). They are useful but advanced tools that are just going to
confuse anyone starting off.

Any command that starts with “py …” (or “python …”) is a command
that you give in the Windows command prompt, not a Python statement.

If you open the command prompt, you should see a “%” or maybe “$” prompt
on each line. That’s where you give the “py …” commands.

The Python command prompt is “>>>” instead.

If you are looking for a tutorial, you could try these in no
particular order:

http://www.alan-g.me.uk/tutor/index.htm

https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/index.html

https://wiki.python.org/moin/BeginnersGuide

Good luck!

Thank you - Steven.
Very happy with your ‘opinions’ !
But I ‘think’ I am getting a different output to the one you describe.
I have never seen (so far) “%” or “$” in any command window, Idle window or Py39 terminal.
But I have seen “$” in a couple of online pages describing what to do.
I can now easily get to the Python prompt >>> in Windows Command window (standard privileges not elevated) by typing “py”.
I can also see the >>> in IDLE and in the Python terminal.

It is when trying to follow the most primitive of “Hello World” guides that I just get syntax error in each of the above methods.

This is the simple stumbling block … I have quickly glanced at a couple of the beginners pages you linked to and so far there is no mention of syntax error at such an early stage (despite me trying to follow such supposedly basic guidelines to create a py file that prints two words !)

I did the test to check that I have Python in path and pip and this resulted in getting >>> which was supposed to confirm that both were correctly in place.
The install was as per default settings with all users and add path.

If I rephrase my question to this …
From within a newly created folder/directory in a place of my choosing should I use Win Command, IDLE or py terminal and should I only be typing directly after the prompt >>> ?

Because (so far I only get syntax error for anything except 2+2 etc.)
Complete fail for “mkdir somefoldername” or “pip install flask” or “cd somefoldername”.

EDIT:
Looked again and found old stackoverflow and the vital piece of information … that I do this from Windows Command not from Python … why was that so hard to find?
So from WinCmd typed “py -m pip install flask” and it worked instantly.
Is that the same for Linux/Mac … use the OS terminal not Python ?
END OF EDIT:

how to mark something as a solution ?
Im just :sparkles:curious :sparkles:

Howdy Paul,

starting IDLE from the command line under Windows indeed might be a little nasty!

Try starting it from the Windows Start Menu - just type IDLE there and the link to the IDLE App will pop up.

Cheers, Dominik

Thank you - Bart Anymous and Dominik Niedenzu.

I suppose that as one never stops learning this sort of this is never solved ?

Starting IDLE is actually now very easy - on 3.9 there is a shortcut provided and also one for what I take to be a terminal (label is just Python 3.9 64 bit) and it certainly looks like a terminal with a Python prompt >>> - it quits with Ctrl Z whereas the IDLE quits with Ctrl Q (at least on this Windows thing).
So I have a very long way to go … lots of reading and failing ahead.

Linux is another story and a huge pain (previous dual boots were fine) Calamares and Gecko dont play nicely … but for another day and another forum.
Paul
Paul

Howdy Paul,

that’s right. It is both, an advantage as well as a disadvantage. Computer science is sheer endless - as soon as you have learned to handle a system, there already is the next, new system to be learned :woozy_face:

But in the end, the underlying ideas and methods mostly are quite similar. If you e.g. have learned C++ and Python, you easily can learn C#.

Computer science is based on experience, it is not difficult. It is not mathematics…

Have fun learning Python!

Cheers, Dominik