Completely new to python and programming. I am trying to work up to being able to use it for astronomy related applications. I was told that ipython would be a very useful editor to have for this purpose. So I believe it has been installed but I am unable to access/open it. I am using Windows 10. I first installed python, then from the windows command line “pip install ipython” seems to have worked but then after supposed installation entering “ipython” is not recognized and nothing happens.
Thanks
Dave
So it turns out the problem was improper installation of Python. First off for windows users do not use the Microsoft Store App for python. There is misleading info out there suggesting people new to python should use the app if you don’t know what PATH is. You should download the windows version directly from python.org. When you open the installer check the custom install option, not standard, and check the box that says to set the PATH environment. Next window make sure all the boxes are checked and the final window leave everything default. Then do the installation. When the installation is done check in the windows cmd command to confirm installation. if you type python --version and hit enter it should say the version you installed. Now after that I still had an issue with iPython because my machine kept telling me it was already installed but when I typed iPython the response was it did not understand the command “iPython”. This is because of the multiple installations and reinstallations of python I did, the computer does not uninstall all of the folders and I had a few different pathways to where the python installation folders were. You have to make sure to delete the previous folders manually if they are still there. The CMD window will show you where those are if this should happen to you because it says ipython is already installed at that location. Make sure when you first install python set the directory to C:\ python39 and take out all the other stuff in between. Makes it easier to keep track of.
So after all that I reinstalled iPython to the same directory and am now able to open it. Yay!
for windows users do not use the Microsoft Store App for python. There is
misleading info out there suggesting people new to python should use the app
if you don’t know what PATH is.
Entrypoint binaries such as “ipython.exe” are a problem since the user scripts directory for the Python 3.9 store app is a tediously long and non-obvious path (up to about 145 characters, depending on the user name):
%LocalAppData%\Packages\<very long package name>\
LocalCache\local-packages\Python39\Scripts
Like many packages, IPython can also be run as a module. For example:
python -m IPython
Make sure when you first install python set the directory to
C:\ python39 and take out all the other stuff in between.
That’s fine for a per-user install on a personal computer.
If you left it as the default installation directory, “%LocalAppdata%\Programs\Python\Python39”, then you can still create a junction (bind mountpoint) to access it more easily. For example:
mklink /j "C:\Python39" "%LocalAppdata%\Programs\Python\Python39"
Ok sounds good. Got it! Thanks very much
Dave