Stony Brook University

Software Installation Instructions

Step 1: Install Python 3

Visit www.python.org/downloads in your Web browser. You should see download buttons for two versions of Python. Select the option for Python 3.8 (the latest version, as of this writing). Once the download is complete, double-click the file to begin the installation process.

Step 2: Install PyCharm Community Edition

Python 3 includes a basic development environment called IDLE. IDLE is good for writing simple Python programs, but it lacks a lot of "comfort" features like live error-checking and debugging tools. As such, I recommend that you download the free, Community Edition version of the PyCharm IDE (integrated development environment) for use while completing your homework and lab assignments.

Visit www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/download to download the free Community Edition of PyCharm, and click on the download link. When the download completes, double-click the downloaded file to run the installer.

Now do the following steps to make sure that PyCharm is setup properly:

1. Launch PyCharm and select "Configure" from the bottom of the window that appears.
2. Choose "Preferences" from the pop-up menu, and then click "Default Project" on the left side of the Preferences window.
3. Click the words "Project Interpreter" on the right, and select whatever looks most like "Python 3.8" from the drop-down menu at the top. If none of these appears and you are using a Mac, then skip down to the paragraph marked "Troubleshooting Mac OS X", below.
4. Click "OK" to save your selection. Now PyCharm will always use the correct version of Python (Python 3) for your projects.

Troubleshooting Mac OS X

If you could not find anything in your drop-down menu other than older versions of Python (like Python 2.7), then we need to locate the proper version of Python in a little different manner:

1. Start PyCharm and select "Preferences" from the "Configure" drop-down menu
2. Select "Project Interpreter" from the list on the left-hand side.
3. On the right side of the preferences window, click on the "..." button and select "Add Local" from the drop-down menu.
4. Navigate to the following directory: /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions
5. Click on the appropriate version subfolder (3.8, hopefully) and click "OK".
6. Click on the bin/ subfolder and double-click on the "python3.8" file, depending on your version).
7. This will return you to the "Project Interpreter" preferences. Click "OK" at the bottom, and PyCharm will configure itself appropriately.