Integrated Development Environments (IDEs)

There are many ways to write python programs. The most basic method is using a text editor like notepad. There are other programs you can download that can make programming a little easier. I do most of my programming using a program called notepad++. It is what is known as an IDE (Integrated Development Environment). You can find the download link here. 

Others like to use programs like Eclipse with PyDev, IDLE, netbeans, etc. Some of these are more difficult to set up than others. Notepad++ is very simple to download and install and works with most programming languages right out of the box. Notepad++ highlights keywords and indicates tabbing/spacing and keeps track of line numbers, all of which are important for Python. Some of the other editing programs allow you to use features like "code completion" or allow you to run your programs from within the editor. None of them are necessary, but they each have their own advantages. In order to create a python program you can simply write the code in whatever text editor you choose and save it with the extention ".py". 

Like I said, your choice of IDE doesn't really matter, but they can be quite helpful. It's worth trying several of them out and see which one is the best for you. I prefer Notepad++ because it's simple, it loads quickly and it works for multiple programming languages including HTML, C++, Java, XML, etc, etc. I also occasionally use Eclipse when writing PyQt programs because I like being able to launch my applications from the editor. Go explore the world of Python IDE editors and choose what's best for you.