In the next few sections, I will use a tool called the Python shell, which will help you get more comfortable using Python. The Python shell is a tool that allows the user to enter in Python commands, which get run instantaneously. This makes the Python shell a great place to quickly and easily experiment with small bits of code or new functionality in Python.
Note
There is no easy way of saving the code that is entered in the Python shell, so it is best to use it only for experimentation.
You can run the Python shell from a Terminal. To do this, open a Terminal and, from any directory, enter one of the following depending on your configuration:
$ Python $ python3
You should see a new command prompt within the Terminal that looks something like this:
In Python, a single instruction is called a simple statement. For now, each individual line of code represents a simple statement. The Python shell will accept one line of code at a time. The following is...