Interactive Interpreter



Both Python and IronPython can be used in interactive interpreter mode. This makes a great calculator, but is also a really good way of trying out language features or experimenting with libraries. You can also perform simple scripting tasks like inspecting files or databases.

To launch the interactive interpreter, run ipy from the command line.

Individual commands, or blocks of code, can be typed here and are executed immediately. The results are displayed in the console window. You can access the last result through the magic variable '_'.

ipy (ipy.exe on Windows, and ipy on Unix) comes in the IronPython zipfile, which also has a tutorial to help you get started.

To enable syntax highlighting and tab completion in the interpreter, start ipy with the following arguments:

ipy -D -X:TabCompletion -X:ColorfulConsole

If you're not used to working at the command line on Windows, you might find the following article useful: The Windows Command Line.

For help getting started with Python, see the resources in the Useful Links page.

Exiting IronPython
To finish your IronPython session, you can press Control-Z followed by the return key.

On Linux and MacOS X while using Mono, you must use Control-D followed by the return key (on Unix, Control-D is the end of file terminator):



And control-z is typically bound to "suspend process" which places IronPython in the background, for example:



In that case, you can just resume your session by typing the fg command in the shell, or you can kill the process by determining the process id (PID) of the command and then using the kill command (use jobs -p to get a list of PIDs associated with the jobs, followed by the kill command).

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