IPython

iPython is a nice shell for Python.

Installation from Source

Building it

Download the latest version here: http://archive.ipython.org/release/

Unzip it:

$ tar xzf ipython-1.12.0.tar.gz -C ~/pkg/_sources/

Build it and install it, being sure to point it to the correct version of Python:

$ python setup.py build

$ python setup.py install --prefix=${HOME}/pkg/ipython/1.12.0

make it the standard version:

$ ln -fs ${HOME}/pkg/ipython/{1.12.0,std}

iPython will make its own executable, instead of running "python" you run "ipython". Put the ipython command in $PATH and $PYTHONPATH by putting this in your favorite dot file:

export PATH="${HOME}/pkg/ipython/std/bin:${PATH}"

export PYTHONPATH="${HOME}/pkg/ipython/std/lib/python2.7/site-packages

Testing your build

Once you've done all of this, issue the command:

$ ipython