.How did Python 🐍 programming language interpreter works

.How did Python 🐍 programming language interpreter works

The Python interpreter is usually installed as /usr/local/bin/python3.6 on those machines where it is available ; putting /usr/local/bin in your Unix shell’s search path makes it possible to start it by typing

the command:



python3.6



to the shell.1 Since the choice of the directory where the interpreter lives is an installation option, other

places are possible; check with your local Python guru or system administrator. (E.g., /usr/local/python

is a popular alternative location.)

On Windows machines, the Python installation is usually placed in C:\Python36, though you can change

this when you’re running the installer. To add this directory to your path, you can type the following

command into the command prompt in a DOS box:



set path=%path%;C:\python36

Typing an end-of-file character (Control-D on Unix, Control-Z on Windows) at the primary prompt causes

the interpreter to exit with a zero exit status. If that doesn’t work, you can exit the interpreter by typing

the following command: quit().

The interpreter’s line-editing features include interactive editing, history substitution and code completion

on systems that support readline. Perhaps the quickest check to see whether command line editing is

supported is typing Control-P to the first Python prompt you get. If it beeps, you have command line

editing; see Appendix Interactive Input Editing and History Substitution for an introduction to the keys. If

nothing appears to happen, or if ^P is echoed, command line editing isn’t available; you’ll only be able to

use backspace to remove characters from the current line.



The interpreter operates somewhat like the Unix shell: when called with standard input connected to a tty

device, it reads and executes commands interactively; when called with a file name argument or with a file

as standard input, it reads and executes a script from that file.



A second way of starting the interpreter is python -c command [arg] ..., which executes the statement(s)

in command, analogous to the shell’s -c option. Since Python statements often contain spaces or other

characters that are special to the shell, it is usually advised to quote command in its entirety with single

quotes.

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