Monday, March 4, 2013

Portable Python, Python on a USB stick




Portable Python is a Python installation preconfigured to run from any USB storage device, like a USB stick.

You only have to download and extract it and then you can starting using Python to develop applications.

It is available for some versions of Python 2 and Python 3. It also comes with many other Python packages / tools. It is optional to install those during the Portable Python installation. Some of those packages are:

PyScripter v2.5.3
NymPy 1.6.2 (*)
SciPy 0.11.0
Matplotlib 1.1.1
PyWin32 218
Django 1.4.3
PIL 1.1.7
Py2Exe 0.6.9
wxPython 2.9.4.0
NetworkX 1.7
Lxml 2.3
PySerial 2.5
PyODBC 3.0.6
PyGame 1.9.1
PyGTK 2.24.2
PyQt 4.9.6-1

(*) Nympy is probably a typo, it must be Numpy.

The fact that it includes Django, wxPython, PyGTK, PyQt, SciPy, Matplotlib, etc., makes it more useful out of the box.

I am trying out Portable Python and will report on my experience with it after a while. If it works well I think it could be a useful tool for people who sometimes need to program with Python on the go, at any place where they may not have a regular installation of Python available, e.g. if you are somewhere without a desktop PC or a laptop, maybe at an Internet cafe, it could be useful there.

The Portable Python About page gives some info about its background and goals.

Vasudev Ram - Dancing Bison Enterprises

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I used Portable Python for a while, but use WinPython now. It ships a newer Python 3 version, and way more packages, especially for scientific stuff. No Django, though, and the Python 3 version is technically in beta, but that hasn't stopped me from using it every day.

Vasudev Ram said...

Thanks for the info. Am checking out WinPython.