Here’s one way to get set up for Python coding using Visual Studio Code, Python and the Windows command shell.

Get Visual Studio Code

Go to the official Visual Studio Code download page and download the installer : https://code.visualstudio.com/download

Run the installer and agree to let it change your computer etc.

To run Visual Studio Code, or VSCode as it’s commonly known, hit the Windows key and start typing “VSC” and you should see it pop up in the search bar. Hit enter or click on it in the search bar to run it.

Get Python

Go to the official Python download page and download the installer. Just use the big button where it says “Download the latest version for Windows” : https://www.python.org/downloads/

Run the installer and agree to everything.

Make a place for your dev files

Ok, now we’re going to use the command shell to make a place for your dev stuff.

Hit the Windows key and type “cmd” and hit enter. A command shell window should pop up. Type these commands into it, hitting enter after each line :

cd \
mkdir dev
cd dev

You’re now in a command shell in your dev directory. Nice.

Let’s make sure python is working. Type this :

python -V

If it works, it should say what version of Python you’ve got. On mine it says “Python 3.8.3”. If it gives an error, you need to fix up your Python install.

Write a Python “Hello, world” program

The classic program that everyone writes to test a new language is one that prints “Hello, world.” Let’s do that.

Fire up VSCode, use the File menu and create a New Text File. Type in :

print("Hello, World!")

That’s it. A one-line program. Use the File menu to Save As… and navigate to the c:\dev directory we made earlier. Let’s call the file hello.py. Python files always have a .py on the end.

Now, switch back to the command shell and type this (and hit enter) :

dir

You should see a directory listing of all the files in your c:\dev directory, including the hello.py file.

Type this to run it :

python hello.py

You should see, wait for it, "Hello, world."

If you do see that, congratulations, you have a working Python dev environment.

Now switch back to VSCode and change your hello.py program to say something else. Save it with File menu, Save. Switch back to the command shell. Run it with python hello.py. Then switch back to VSCode, edit, save, switch to command shell, run. Then do it again.

Edit, save, run.

Edit, save, run.

You are now on your way.

FIN.