Introduction to Python:
A Script to Check Your Installation and Packages

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The following script can be run to check that you have Python installed correctly, that you are using the right version and that you are running it from the correct location. The packages that this script requires are imported at the top of the script, so make sure you have those installed or else it won’t work.

import distro
import os
from pip._internal.operations.freeze import freeze
import platform
import subprocess
import sys
from datetime import date
import pwd

today = date.today()
print(f'This script was run on {today}')

# Information about the computer
core_os = platform.system()
print(f'This is a {core_os} machine')
if core_os == 'Linux':
    # Check which version of Python you are running
    major = platform.python_version().split('.')[0]
    minor = platform.python_version().split('.')[1]
    # Check which operating system you have
    if (int(major) == 3) & (int(minor) <= 4):
        # Python 3.4 or lower
        OS = platform.linux_distribution()[0]
        version = platform.linux_distribution()[1]
    else:
        # Check which version of the distro package you have installed
        major = distro.__version__.split('.')[0]
        minor = distro.__version__.split('.')[1]
        if (int(major) <= 1) & (int(minor) <= 4):
            # distro 1.4 or lower
            OS = distro.linux_distribution()[0]
            version = distro.linux_distribution()[1]
        else:
            # distro 1.5.0 or higher
            OS = distro.name()
            version = distro.version()
    print(f'Its OS is {OS}')
    print(f'Its OS version is {version}')
elif core_os == 'Windows':
    OS = platform.system()
    version = platform.release()
    print(f'Its OS version is {version}')
elif core_os == 'Darwin':
    # Check which version of macOS you have
    version = platform.mac_ver()[0]
    major = version.split('.')[0]
    minor = version.split('.')[1]
    if int(major) == 10:
        macOS_vers = {
            '10.11': 'El Capitan',
            '10.12': 'Sierra',
            '10.13': 'High Sierra',
            '10.14': 'Mojave',
            '10.15': 'Catalina',
        }
        OS = macOS_vers[f'{major}.{minor}']
    else:
        macOS_vers = {
            '11': 'Big Sur',
            '12': 'Monterey',
            '13': 'Ventura',
            '14': 'Sonoma',
        }
        OS = macOS_vers[major]
    print(f'Its OS is macOS {OS}')
    print(f'Its OS version is {platform.mac_ver()[0]}')
name = platform.node()
print(f'Its name is {name}')
user = pwd.getpwuid(os.getuid())[0]
print(f'The user is {user}')

# Information about the Git repo
process = subprocess.Popen(
    ['git', 'rev-parse', 'HEAD'], shell=False, stdout=subprocess.PIPE
)
git_hash = process.communicate()[0].strip()
print(f'The git hash is {git_hash}')

# Information about the Python installation
py = platform.python_version()
print(f'The Python version is {py}')
path = sys.executable
print(f'Python is being run from {path}')
print('The installed packages are:')
for requirement in freeze(local_only=True):
    print(requirement)

Formatted output:

# Formatted output
print('\n\n')
if platform.system() == 'Linux':
    print(f'Running with Python {py} on {name}, an {OS} {version} machine, ' +
          f'by user {user}')
    print('\nWorks on:')
    print('┌────────────┬────────────────┬───────────────┬──' + '─' * 22 + '┐')
    print(f'│ {today} │ {OS} {version}   │ Python {py:6} │ {path:16} │')
    print('└────────────┴────────────────┴───────────────┴──' + '─' * 22 + '┘')
elif platform.system() == 'Darwin':
    print(f'Running with Python {py} on {name}, a macOS {OS} machine, ' +
          f'by user {user}')
    print('\nWorks on:')
    if len(sys.executable) > 28:
        path = '...' + sys.executable[-26:]
    else:
        path = sys.executable
    print('┌────────────┬────────────────┬───────────────┬──' + '─' * 29 + '┐')
    print(f'│ {today} │ macOS {OS:8} │ Python {py} │ {path:29} │')
    print('└────────────┴────────────────┴───────────────┴──' + '─' * 29 + '┘')

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