Introduction — Python: Setting up the environment

Hexlet designs most of its courses in a way that allows students to do all the work directly in the browser. This approach helps you to focus on the assignments. But it can create a false understanding of what is going on.

The first steps in learning to program are about setting up the environment. And for many people, installation, and configuration is more complicated than writing code. The sooner you start playing around with your code, the faster you'll progress and be able to write real applications and complete coding tasks!

Speaking of assignments, we at Hexlet maintain a list of testing assignments from various companies. We recommend that you use it as a guide. It would be perfect if you could do at least one or two on your GitHub account as part of your learning. It will give you confidence and show that you can do something. There's another benefit: employers can check out your GitHub account and look at the code.

In this course, we'll install and configure Python, learn about the Poetry package manager, how to link third-party libraries, and how to make your code available to the public. You will apply what you've learned in this course to your first Python project.

Before you begin the course, make sure that you:

• Use a development-friendly operating system, such as Ubuntu or MacOS. If you use Windows, set up your operating system according to these instructions
• Know how to run a terminal and execute commands in it. To refresh your knowledge, you can take the Command Line Basics course
• Are familiar with the basics of GIT

The environment

Working with the command line, setting up the environment, and interacting with the operating system is a big part of any programmer's job in any language. It determines the efficiency of debugging, the ability to handle problems independently, and even the quality of the code.

When programmers get their first job, they try to run the projects locally on their computers. The more complex the project is, the more different skills are needed, such as knowledge of networking, ports, IP addresses, builders, and virtualization with Docker. In some organizations, the setup can take up to a week. And that's assuming the programmer is skilled enough.

Learning your language's ecosystem is an ongoing and unpredictable process. Endlessly confusing error messages are a common thing. Constantly searching Google for answers is also the norm. We've all been there.

Why does this happen? An ecosystem is a zoo of programs, operating systems, and hardware features that are cleverly intertwined. Everything is so individual that almost every programmer has a unique situation.

That's why there are thousands of articles about installing Python. And from the comments on these articles, you can see that not everyone is having a good time, and users continue to run into errors at every step.

Over time, you'll get the hang of setting up the environment and find that it's not such a complicated process. The only important thing to remember is that it is better not to try to solve problems by trial and error. Instead, try to figure out the causes of the difficulties you encounter. It is the only way to grow as a developer.