Your First Python Program

It is a long-standing tradition in the programming world that the first program you write in any new language is “Hello World.” It’s a simple test to ensure everything is connected and working as expected.

Writing the Code

Create a new file named hello.py and type the following:

# This is a comment - it doesn't run, it just helps humans read code
print("Hello, World!")

Running the Code

Open your terminal in the same folder where you saved the file and run:

python hello.py

You should see the text Hello, World! printed in your terminal. Congratulations! You’re officially a Python programmer.

Understanding the print() Function

In Python, print() is a built-in function. It takes whatever is inside the parentheses and displays it on the screen.

Experimentation:

Try printing something else:

print("My name is Radhe")
print(5 + 10)
print("A" * 10)

Notice how Python can handle both text (called strings) and math calculations directly inside the function. In the next section, we’ll dive into how to store this data using Variables.