🔒 beginner question: how do i run a script in idle?

[halcyon orchid]

reading thinkpython and exercise 2.1 is throwing me for a loop. I tried to write a script in sublime text and exec(2.1.py) in idle, but it gave me a syntax error. i think i just dont understand scripts. Thanks!

[frosty lance]

@halcyon orchid

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[final pollen]

can you show a screenshot of the error when running it in IDLE?

[final pollen]

so this is the idle "shell"

it's what you call a REPL, it evaluates each line of code separately

so following the exercise, you should be typing 5

x = 5

x + 1

and see what happens

[halcyon orchid]

ok. do i need a terminal or cmd prompt or something?

[final pollen]

No, you are meant to write those statements directly into the shell

the exercise wants you to see the difference between REPL and a .py file

[halcyon orchid]

i get that

[final pollen]

so did you create a .py file?

[halcyon orchid]

i did

[final pollen]

then to run it from IDLE, you would go File > Open at the top

then load that file

[halcyon orchid]

ok

heres what happens

it opens the .py in a seperate window

[final pollen]

yup, now you can do Run > Run Module at the top

and the output will appear in the REPL (the other window)

[halcyon orchid]

ok cool

[final pollen]

you'll probably notice that there is no output

[halcyon orchid]

ya!

its = RESTART

[final pollen]

python files won't display output unless you use a print statement

[halcyon orchid]

and then the file location

[final pollen]

REPL however will evaluate each line and output the result immediately

REPL stands for "Read/Eval/Print/Loop"

[halcyon orchid]

very cool, thanks

[final pollen]

Np! If that's all for now, you can close this help thread with !close

[halcyon orchid]

!close

[frosty lance]

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