MacOS is a popular operating system among developers, and it provides a great platform for programming with Python. Python is a powerful language for building applications, and VS Code is a popular text editor that provides a great development environment for Python.
In this article, we will guide you through the steps to install Python and VS Code on MacOS. We will cover everything from downloading and installing Python to configuring VS Code for Python development.
Step 1: Install Homebrew
The first step in installing Python and VS Code on MacOS is to install Homebrew. Homebrew is a package manager for MacOS that makes it easy to install and manage software packages.
To install Homebrew, open your terminal and run the following command:
/usr/bin/ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"
This command will download and install Homebrew on your system.
Step 2: Install Python
After installing Homebrew, the next step is to install Python. Python is not pre-installed on MacOS, but it can be easily installed using Homebrew.
To install Python, open your terminal and run the following command:
brew install python
This command will download and install Python on your system. After the installation is complete, you can verify the installation by running the following command:
python --version
This command will display the version of Python installed on your system.
Step 3: Install VS Code
After installing Python, the next step is to install VS Code. VS Code is a popular text editor that provides a great development environment for Python.
To install VS Code, open your web browser and go to the VS Code download page. Click on the macOS link to download the VS Code for MacOS.
After the download is complete, open the downloaded file and follow the instructions to install VS Code on your system.
Here are the steps to install VS Code on macOS:
1. Open your web browser and go to the official VS Code download page: https://code.visualstudio.com/download
2. Click on the “macOS” button to download the VS Code installer for macOS.
3. Once the download is complete, open the downloaded file (it should be in your “Downloads” folder).
4. Drag and drop the VS Code icon into the “Applications” folder.
5. Open the “Applications” folder and double-click on the VS Code icon to launch the application.
6. If you see a security warning that says “Visual Studio Code is an application downloaded from the Internet. Are you sure you want to open it?” click on “Open” to continue.
Step 4: Configure VS Code for Python
After installing VS Code, the next step is to configure it for Python development. VS Code provides a Python extension that provides a great development environment for Python.
To install the Python extension, open VS Code and click on the Extensions icon on the left sidebar. Search for the Python extension and click on the Install button.
After installing the extension, you can configure it by opening the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows, Cmd+Shift+P on MacOS) and searching for the “Python: Select Interpreter” command. This command allows you to select the Python interpreter you want to use.
To configure VS Code for Python on macOS, you can follow these steps:
1. Install the Python extension: Open VS Code and click on the Extensions icon in the left-hand panel. Search for “Python” and click on the “Install” button to install the Python extension.
2. Create a new Python file: Create a new file by clicking on “File” > “New File”. Save the file with a “.py” extension.
3. Configure the Python interpreter: Press “Cmd+Shift+P” to open the Command Palette, and then type “Python: Select Interpreter”. Select the Python interpreter you want to use for your project.
4. Install packages: To install additional Python packages, you can use the integrated terminal in VS Code. Open the terminal by clicking on “Terminal” > “New Terminal”. Then, type “pip install <package name>” to install the package you need.
5. Run your Python code: To run your Python code, press “F5” or click on “Run” > “Start Debugging”. VS Code will launch a debugger and execute your code.
That’s it! You now have VS Code configured for Python development on macOS.
Step 5: Create a Python Project
After configuring VS Code for Python, the next step is to create a Python project. To create a Python project, open VS Code and click on the File menu and select New Folder. Give your folder a name and click on the Create button.
After creating the folder, click on the File menu and select New File. Give your file a name with the “.py” extension, and start coding.
To create a Python project, follow these steps:
1. Open your preferred text editor or IDE. I’ll use VS Code in this example.
2. Create a new folder for your project. You can do this by clicking on “File” > “New Folder”.
3. Open the new folder in VS Code. You can do this by clicking on “File” > “Open Folder”.
4. Create a new file in the folder with a “.py” extension. You can do this by clicking on “File” > “New File” and saving the file with a “.py” extension.
5. Write your Python code in the new file. Here’s an example of a simple “Hello, World!” program:
print("Hello, World!")
6. Save the file by clicking on “File” > “Save” or pressing “Cmd+S” on Mac or “Ctrl+S” on Windows.
7. Test your code by running it. You can do this by opening a terminal in VS Code (click on “Terminal” > “New Terminal”), navigating to the directory where your Python file is located, and running the following command:
python your_file_name.py
Replace “your_file_name” with the name of your Python file.
That’s it! You’ve now created a Python project and written a simple program. From here, you can continue to build out your project by adding more files, organizing your code, and installing packages as needed.
Step 6: Run Python Code in VS Code
After creating a Python project, the next step is to run your Python code in VS Code. To run your code, open the file you want to run and click on the Run icon on the left sidebar.
To run Python code in VS Code, follow these steps:
1. Open your Python file in VS Code.
2. Press “F5” on your keyboard or click on the “Run” menu and select “Start Debugging”.
3. If this is the first time you’re running Python code in VS Code, you’ll be prompted to select a debugging configuration. Select “Python” from the dropdown list.
4. VS Code will automatically create a launch.json file in a new .vscode folder in your project’s directory.
5. After selecting the Python configuration, VS Code will launch a debugger and execute your code. If your code contains any errors, they will be displayed in the “Debug Console” panel at the bottom of the screen.
Alternatively, you can also run your Python code using the integrated terminal in VS Code:
1. Open a terminal in VS Code by clicking on “Terminal” > “New Terminal”.
2. Navigate to the directory where your Python file is located using the “cd” command.
3. Run your Python code by typing “python your_file_name.py” in the terminal, replacing “your_file_name” with the name of your Python file.
That’s it! You can now run your Python code in VS Code either through the debugger or the integrated terminal.
Conclusion
In this article, we have covered the steps to install Python and VS Code on MacOS. We have also covered how to configure VS Code for Python development and how to create and run a Python project in VS Code.
By following these steps, you can start developing Python applications on MacOS using VS Code. We hope this article has been helpful to you. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them in the comments section below.
Thank you for reading, and we’ll see you in the next article!
