Invoking the Interpreter
========================
-The Python interpreter is usually installed as :file:`/usr/local/bin/python3.7`
+The Python interpreter is usually installed as :file:`/usr/local/bin/python3.6`
on those machines where it is available; putting :file:`/usr/local/bin` in your
Unix shell's search path makes it possible to start it by typing the command:
.. code-block:: text
- python3.7
+ python3.6
to the shell. [#]_ Since the choice of the directory where the interpreter lives
is an installation option, other places are possible; check with your local
.. code-block:: shell-session
- $ python3.7
- Python 3.7 (default, Sep 16 2015, 09:25:04)
+ $ python3.6
+ Python 3.6 (default, Sep 16 2015, 09:25:04)
[GCC 4.8.2] on linux
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>>
recognize that the file is UTF-8, and it must use a font that supports all the
characters in the file.
-To declare an encoding other than the default one, a special comment line
-should be added as the *first* line of the file. The syntax is as follows::
+It is also possible to specify a different encoding for source files. In order
+to do this, put one more special comment line right after the ``#!`` line to
+define the source file encoding::
# -*- coding: encoding -*-
-where *encoding* is one of the valid :mod:`codecs` supported by Python.
+With that declaration, everything in the source file will be treated as having
+the encoding *encoding* instead of UTF-8. The list of possible encodings can be
+found in the Python Library Reference, in the section on :mod:`codecs`.
-For example, to declare that Windows-1252 encoding is to be used, the first
-line of your source code file should be::
+For example, if your editor of choice does not support UTF-8 encoded files and
+insists on using some other encoding, say Windows-1252, you can write::
# -*- coding: cp-1252 -*-
-One exception to the *first line* rule is when the source code starts with a
-:ref:`UNIX "shebang" line <tut-scripts>`. In this case, the encoding
-declaration should be added as the second line of the file. For example::
+and still use all characters in the Windows-1252 character set in the source
+files. The special encoding comment must be in the *first or second* line
+within the file.
- #!/usr/bin/env python3
- # -*- coding: cp-1252 -*-
.. rubric:: Footnotes