You may have been writing Python code online using a website like trinket but sooner or later you will find sites like this have limitations and don't allow you to use the full range of Python functions. To get access to the full Python3 language you will need to have Python3 installed on your own computer. This section contains instructions for installing Python3 on your own computer.
The links below are to instructions for full Python3 installations on Windows computers and MacOS computers. The Windows instructions are more detailed because the person writing them uses Windows computers!
We will improve the instructions for MacOS computers when we find out more about them!
The other way of getting Python on your computer is to choose one of the dedicated Python code editors which come packaged with their own version of Python. This takes the pain out of actually installing the Python files. The link below shows how you can install the mu Python editor:
Python has been around since 1991 and has had various versions since then. The most recent version is Python3, which came out in 2008, and this is the version you should install on your computer. The previous version, Python2, which came out in 2000, is very different from Python3, and many of the common functions work in a different way between Python2 and Python3.
The problem is that there is a great deal of material still on the internet which describes how to do coding using Python2. If you are using the internet to get help with your coding, you need to be careful to make sure you are looking at Python3 examples. Some webpages will make this clear, but not every one will. A good tip, when you are doing an internet search, is to include the term "Python3" in your search string.