Bob Savage <bobsavage@mac.com> Show
Python on a Mac running macOS is in principle very similar to Python on any other Unix platform, but there are a number of additional features such as the IDE and the Package Manager that are worth pointing out. 5.1. Getting and Installing MacPython¶macOS used to come with Python 2.7 pre-installed between versions 10.8 and 12.3. You are invited to install the most recent version of Python 3 from the Python website (https://www.python.org). A current “universal binary” build of Python, which runs natively on the Mac’s new Intel and legacy PPC CPU’s, is available there. What you get after installing is a number of things:
The Apple-provided build of Python is installed in IDLE includes a help menu that allows you to access Python documentation. If you are completely new to Python you should start reading the tutorial introduction in that document. If you are familiar with Python on other Unix platforms you should read the section on running Python scripts from the Unix shell. 5.1.1. How to run a Python script¶Your best way to get started with Python on macOS is through the IDLE integrated development environment, see section The IDE and use the Help menu when the IDE is running. If you want to run Python scripts from the Terminal window command line or from the Finder you first need an editor to create your script. macOS comes with a number of standard Unix command line editors, vim and emacs among them. If you want a more Mac-like editor, BBEdit or TextWrangler from Bare Bones Software (see http://www.barebones.com/products/bbedit/index.html) are good choices, as is TextMate (see https://macromates.com/). Other editors include Gvim (https://macvim-dev.github.io/macvim/) and Aquamacs (http://aquamacs.org/). To run your script from the Terminal window you must make sure that To run your script from the Finder you have two options:
5.1.2. Running scripts with a GUI¶With older versions of Python, there is one macOS quirk that you need to be aware of: programs that talk to the Aqua window manager (in other words, anything that has a GUI) need to be run in a special way. Use pythonw instead of python to start such scripts. With Python 3.9, you can use either python or pythonw. 5.1.3. Configuration¶Python on macOS honors all standard Unix environment variables such as For more information on installation Python packages in MacPython, see section Installing Additional Python Packages. 5.2. The IDE¶MacPython ships with the standard IDLE development environment. A good introduction to using IDLE can be found at http://www.hashcollision.org/hkn/python/idle_intro/index.html. 5.3. Installing Additional Python Packages¶There are several methods to install additional Python packages:
5.4. GUI Programming on the Mac¶There are several options for building GUI applications on the Mac with Python. PyObjC is a Python binding to Apple’s Objective-C/Cocoa framework, which is the foundation of most modern Mac development. Information on PyObjC is available from https://pypi.org/project/pyobjc/. The standard Python GUI toolkit is wxPython is another popular cross-platform GUI toolkit that runs natively on macOS. Packages and documentation are available from https://www.wxpython.org. PyQt is another popular cross-platform GUI toolkit that runs natively on macOS. More information can be found at https://riverbankcomputing.com/software/pyqt/intro. 5.5. Distributing Python Applications on the Mac¶The standard tool for deploying standalone Python applications on the Mac is py2app. More information on installing and using py2app can be found at https://pypi.org/project/py2app/. 5.6. Other Resources¶The MacPython mailing list is an excellent support resource for Python users and developers on the Mac: https://www.python.org/community/sigs/current/pythonmac-sig/ Another useful resource is the MacPython wiki: https://wiki.python.org/moin/MacPython Can Python app run on Mac?When you're thinking about how to use Python, the good news is it's already installed on your Mac, since it comes with macOS and lots of default Mac utilities rely on Python.
How do I use Python launcher on Mac?To do this, locate the Python script file in the Finder, right-click, and use “Get Info” to find the path name.. Next, right-click the file and select “Open With -> Python Launcher” from the context menu. ... . The Python Launcher's Preferences window opens in the background automatically when Python Launcher is executed.. Where is Python installed on Mac?macOS installs Python 2 (outdated) by default, for compatibility reasons, making it available as /usr/bin/python . If you install Xcode, the Apple Development IDE, it installs Python 3 in /usr/bin/python3 .
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