Installing Software Development Tools

Windows Terminal (Windows PCs Only)

If you are using Windows you’ll need to install the Windows Terminal application. You can download and install Windows Terminal from the Microsoft Store or click this link.

Python

We’ll be using the Python programming language in this class. We’ll be using version 3 in this course. It is commonly referred to as python3.

It’s possible, though unlikely, that you already have Python installed. To determine if Python is already installed on your computer, follow these instructions.

If you do not have Python installed follow these installation instructions.

NOTE: As we are writing this, the instructions in that link imply you should install Python version 3.9. However, since they were written Python version 3.10 was released. Although it probably won’t matter in this introductory course, it’s best to install the latest version, so if you have version 3.10 (or later) you should be good.

Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code (aka, VS Code) is a program we’ll use to write and edit code.

To install VS Code follow these instructions.

Visual Studio Code Python Extension

This is an addition to Visual Studio Code that makes it easier for us to write and edit Python code.

To install the VS Code Python Extension follow these instructions.

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