Python and VSCode Install tutorial

In this tutorial, you will learn how to install VSCode the most popular code editor and Python the most popular programming language.

Install VSCode

1. Please download VSCode install packages from the offical website.

   • VSCode for Windows
   • VSCode for Mac
   • Other VSCode versions
     If you are linux, windows on arm or other platforms please use this link

   After download,

   • for windows users, it is an exe file. Just click it and follow its installation guide.
   • for mac users, it is zip file. Unzip the zip file and click the VSCode icon to start the app.
   • for linux users, it is a package file. Install the package with your package mananger.

2. After install VSCode, you can open the extension markets by click the extension icon or press Ctrl+Shift+X in the same time.

Install Python

1. Please download Python install packages from the offical website.

   • Python for Windows
   • Python for Mac
   • Other Python versions
     If you are using a operating system with package manager, please install Python from the package manager

   After download,

   • for windows user, it is an exe file. Click it and follow the installation guide. I highly recommand you to ADD PYTHON INTO PATH
   • for mac user, it is a pkg file. Click it and follow the installation guide.

2. Change PyPi source to a local mirror to better download python packages.

   For chinese user, here are three PyPi mirror.

   • Tuna Tsinghua
   • Aliyun
   • USTC
   • Other mirrors

   In this tutorial, I will show how to change into Tuna mirror. Open the terminal and type in two lines of commands as below

   python -m pip install -i https://mirrors.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/pypi/web/simple --upgrade pip
   pip config set global.index-url https://mirrors.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/pypi/web/simple
   

Setup Python in VSCode

1. Install Python extension in VSCode. First open the extension market and search python. You could install all needed python package by installing the Python Extension Pack.

2. This tutorial recommand you to install Jupyter Notebook as a better way to use Python. To install Jupyter Notebook, please search Jupyter and install Jupyter.

3. Install ipykernel with pip, type in this command

pip install ipykernel

4. Open a new .ipynb format file and start your coding.