Introduction

One of the benefits of the Python programming language is that it is interpreted, not compiled. This means that Python code is processed when it is called, rather than having to be pre-compiled before use. Because of this, interpreted languages generally have an interactive shell, allowing users to test code and otherwise have immediate feedback without having to create a separate source code file.

Of course, to get the most functionality out of a programming language, having permanent code files is necessary. When using an interactive prompt, the code lives in RAM; once the interactive session is closed, that code is lost. Thus, using an interactive prompt is a great way to quickly test programming ideas, but you wouldn't want to run a full-blown program from it.

This chapter will talk about using the Command Prompt to launch programs, as well as Python's functionality using the interactive shell. Special functionality with the Windows operating system will be discussed, and we will end by talking about alternative Python shells that developers may be interested in trying.