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When anyone starts using a new language like python, it is often convenient to use an interpreter to explore and experiment. We are using the iPython interpreter that allows us to execute python commands and also gives us some extra capabilities that let us work faster.
However, when the time comes to write a script that you will use over and over, it is quickly better to work in a separate file that you can run from the command-line. At the same time, you may want to test that script while you are writing it. It becomes very cumbersome to work in a single window:
- opening the editor
- making changes
- saving the changes
- closing the editor
- running your script
- repeat....
Instead, it is convenient to open multiple windows and arrange them on your screen so that you can quickly go back and forth between the editor and the command-line or interpreter where you will run the script.
- Open two terminal windows
- Arrange them on the screen so that one takes the left half and the other takes the right half of your screen.
- In both terminals, navigate to
~/boot-camps/python - Open a text editor (
nano) in one terminal - Open the iPython interpreter in the other terminal
- In the text editor, type a single line:
print "Hello World!"and save it aswindow1.py - In the iPython interpreter, type
%run window1.py
Bonus: In most operating systems there is a quick way to switch between these two windows using the keyboard. Alt+Tab works in Windows and linux/unix, while Cmd+Tab works on OSX.
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