Python & XML

Installing Python

While this book is not an introductory text on Python, we review the installation process since you may be upgrading an older system to use Python 2; using one of the more recent versions of Python is strongly recommended if you’ll be doing much work with XML. If you already have Python Version 2.0 or newer installed, you do not need to install a new version to use the examples in this book.

Python is available from http://www.python.org/ for both Windows and Unix platforms. If you follow the download links on the Python web site, you are prompted to select a version. After selecting the most recent stable version, you are presented with selections for the Windows Installer, source code, and possibly installable packages for Linux or other platforms. (Version 2.1.1 is the most recent version available as this book goes to press, but Python 2.2 is expected to be available shortly thereafter and is expected to be fully compatible with everything in this book.)

Windows

If you are installing on Windows, download the Windows Installer and run it. The remainder of the installation process will seem very familiar to you as a standard Windows installation procedure. When the process is complete, the Python executable will be available to you in the C:\Python21 directory unless you have elected a different location during the installation process. The trailing version number in the directory name may be different depending on the version of Python you install, but will ...