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I learned to compile python code without an IDE (and with the Atom text editor)

For a long time now, I've been wanting to learn how to compile code in Java and Python (the 2 main languages I like to code in) without the use of NetBeans/Eclipse and the Idle IDEs. A software developer friend of mine told me that many devs use text editors in the workplace, and I thought figuring out how to compile and run my code that way would be a cool thing to learn.



Compiling code in Java will be for a later blog, but here is how I got python setup:

1) Installing the Atom Text Editor


Atom is a free, open source text editor developed by GitHub. I was first introduced to Atom at a high school hackathon I went to, where it was praised for being fully customizable and having a large array of packages to download from (although I learned today that Vim is a better text editor in terms of memory usage). Installing Atom is very simple, and the download link can be found here. 


2) Installing the Script Package 

Next, I found out that installing the script package is what could let me run python code easily. 
Once you have atom running, choose the "install a package" option on the welcome guide. From there, click open installer, and search "script". The package below is the one we're interested in: 



Click the install button, and you're good to go. 


3) Getting the Python Part Setup 

Theoretically, you should be able to run python programs once you write them and save them with a ".py" extension. However, many people including me, get an error that says "python is not an internal or external command". 

 This error is very easy to fix. Assuming you have already installed python, do the following:

1) search add or remove programs in your search bar, and try to uninstall python

2) this screen should come up:





3) Click on modify, click next on features and this screen should appear:



4) Check the Add Python to environment variables option

After this, python programs should start working in atom itself. Press Ctrl+Shift+B to run the code on Windows.

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