Question

So I write a program. Great! It works in IDLE. But when I run it, I get syntax errors because of the automatic intro and those >>> prompts. I manually delete them, but that can't really be the way it's supposed to go. How do you go from IDLE to running a .py file in command prompt? I've read everything assigned in the first three lectures, plus some extra stuff, watched the first 3 lectures & I'm clueless. Can someone help a newbie out?

Answer 1

what version of python are you using? when writing your program in 2.7.x , go to the file tab and click on new window. write your program in this window and save it with a .py extension. run your program using f5 and if you still get errors, your doing something wrong. also, code should run correctly directly from the shell.

Answer 2

Ah, F5 is helpful, thanks!
I'm using 2.7.2. I write it in the shell with the live interpreter. Then I save the file as a .py, close it, open it up to "edit wit IDLE", then delete all the >>>s, then I run it successfully. If I would initially write it in the new window, the interpreter doesn't run. Do you mean cut & paste into the new window? That still brings in all the >>>s which have to be deleted.

It just seems moronic that such a high-level language would make you manually go back & delete all the stinking >>>s. There isn't a process I'm missing?

Answer 3

in idle, select file | new window. write your script in the new window.
when you are ready select the run | run module menu option.

Answer 4

So you're both writing programs without the >>>s to begin with. And you're writing programs without the instantaneous interpreter. Right?

Answer 5

yep, i use the Idle shell a lot to try out pieces of code to see how/if it works while i am writing the scripts in the editing window.

Answer 6

Thank you! Totally clears it up. That also eliminates my annoyance with not being able to delete previous lines in the interpreter. DUH!