Reputation: 4264
Just curious, is there a particular reason why Python 3.x is not installed on Windows to run default with the command line "python3", like it does on Mac OSX and Linux? Is there some kind of way to configure Python so that it runs like this? Thanks.
EDIT: Just to add, the reason I am asking is because I have both the Python 2 and 3 interpreter installed on my computer, and so it is ambiguous, as both are run using the command "python".
Upvotes: 11
Views: 30091
Reputation: 15369
I work with multiple Python 2.x and 3.x distros on Windows. Some of them are "portable" - i.e. not recorded in the Windows registry, and therefore not accessible by the version-selector py.exe
delivered with Python 3.3+. To save my sanity, I wrote SelectPython.bat
which is available on bitbucket. It configures the PYTHONHOME
, PYTHONPATH
and PATH
variables according to the target you give it (a relative or absolute path to the parent directory of python.exe
). You can do so in a way that is sticky for the rest of your command-line session:
> SelectPython C:\Path\To\Desired\Version\Of\Python
> python
or transiently, i.e. to call a particular python command without otherwise affecting the environment of the shell you're calling it from:
> SelectPython C:\Path\To\Desired\Version\Of\Python python -c "import sys;print(sys.version)"
You may find it helpful.
Upvotes: 0
Reputation: 414795
the reason I am asking is because I have both the Python 2 and 3 interpreter installed on my computer, and so it is ambiguous, as both are run using the command "python".
To run Python 2 executable:
C:\> py -2
To run Python 3 executable:
C:\> py -3
where py
is a Python launcher that is bundled with your Python 3 installation.
py
recognizes the shebang (e.g., #!/usr/bin/env python3
causes Python 3 executable to be run), it respects virtualenv (if you run py
without specifying the explicit python executable version) i.e., run:
C:\> py your_script.py
and the correct python version is used automatically -- you don't need to specify the Python version on the command-line explicitly.
is there a particular reason why Python 3.x is not installed on Windows to run default with the command line "python3", like it does on Mac OSX and Linux?
OSX and Linux have python
executable installed by default as a rule and it refers to Python 2 version in most cases at the moment that is why you need a separate python3
name there.
There is no Python on Windows by default. And therefore any version that you've installed is just python
(I guess). The recommended way to manage multiple python versions is to use the Python launcher.
Is there some kind of way to configure Python so that it runs like this?
If you want to type python3 some_script.py
instead of py some_script.py
or even just some_script
(assuming .py
is in %PATHEXT%
and Python launcher is configured to run Python scripts (check assoc .py
and ftype Python.File
) -- the default) then create a bat-file e.g., python3.cmd
and put it in %PATH%
:
"C:\path to\Python 3.X\python.exe" %*
Upvotes: 24
Reputation: 191953
You likely missed the checkbox at the bottom of the installer.
Full documentation here: https://docs.python.org/3/using/windows.html
Then, I think you just run python
, not python3
from the Command Prompt. The reason Unix systems have python3
is because python
defaults to Python2.x in many systems.
Upvotes: 2
Reputation: 1279
You have to add the python bin folder to your path. You can do it manually but when you install python i remember you have an option to do that.
Upvotes: 1