How to configure Python 2.7 on Windows 7?

Question

I'm new to Python. I downloaded the 64-bit build of Python 2.7.10 from www.python.org/downloads/release/python-2710. I run Windows 7 Pro on a Dell PC.

I find that the installation package creates a folder called "Python 2.7" in my Start menu, with both a command prompt and IDLE GUI options.

I hold my scripts in another directory that is parallel to but not under the one where Python 2.7 resides, so I set the Environment Variable PYTHONPATH to include the directory where my scripts reside. Unfortunately, I am unable to reach them in either the IDLE GUI or the "Python command line" in that folder in my start menu. The only way I have managed to run Python scripts is to open an ordinary command prompt from Accessories, navigate to the directory with the scripts, and run python from the command prompt in that directory.

Can anyone let me know what I'm not doing that I should be doing to run Python and my scripts from the parallel directory under the GUI or the command line from the start menu folder ?

Answer 1

1) PYTHONPATH is used to specify where the Python interpreter will look for "import" modules from within a running Python script.

2) If the install (I have always used the ActiveState installs so don't know what plain Python does on Windows) has set up the environment such that ".py" files are executable, then putting the script directory on the regular system PATH should let you run them by entering their name in a command shell.