mirror of
https://github.com/python/cpython.git
synced 2024-12-01 22:04:04 +08:00
54 lines
2.3 KiB
ReStructuredText
54 lines
2.3 KiB
ReStructuredText
=============================================
|
|
"Why is Python Installed on my Computer?" FAQ
|
|
=============================================
|
|
|
|
What is Python?
|
|
---------------
|
|
|
|
Python is a programming language. It's used for many different applications.
|
|
It's used in some high schools and colleges as an introductory programming
|
|
language because Python is easy to learn, but it's also used by professional
|
|
software developers at places such as Google, NASA, and Lucasfilm Ltd.
|
|
|
|
If you wish to learn more about Python, start with the `Beginner's Guide to
|
|
Python <http://wiki.python.org/moin/BeginnersGuide>`_.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Why is Python installed on my machine?
|
|
--------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
If you find Python installed on your system but don't remember installing it,
|
|
there are several possible ways it could have gotten there.
|
|
|
|
* Perhaps another user on the computer wanted to learn programming and installed
|
|
it; you'll have to figure out who's been using the machine and might have
|
|
installed it.
|
|
* A third-party application installed on the machine might have been written in
|
|
Python and included a Python installation. There are many such applications,
|
|
from GUI programs to network servers and administrative scripts.
|
|
* Some Windows machines also have Python installed. At this writing we're aware
|
|
of computers from Hewlett-Packard and Compaq that include Python. Apparently
|
|
some of HP/Compaq's administrative tools are written in Python.
|
|
* Many Unix-compatible operating systems, such as Mac OS X and some Linux
|
|
distributions, have Python installed by default; it's included in the base
|
|
installation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Can I delete Python?
|
|
--------------------
|
|
|
|
That depends on where Python came from.
|
|
|
|
If someone installed it deliberately, you can remove it without hurting
|
|
anything. On Windows, use the Add/Remove Programs icon in the Control Panel.
|
|
|
|
If Python was installed by a third-party application, you can also remove it,
|
|
but that application will no longer work. You should use that application's
|
|
uninstaller rather than removing Python directly.
|
|
|
|
If Python came with your operating system, removing it is not recommended. If
|
|
you remove it, whatever tools were written in Python will no longer run, and
|
|
some of them might be important to you. Reinstalling the whole system would
|
|
then be required to fix things again.
|
|
|