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Issue python#29381: Clarify ordering of UNIX shebang line as source e…
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Mariatta committed Feb 2, 2017
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29 changes: 14 additions & 15 deletions Doc/tutorial/interpreter.rst
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Expand Up @@ -10,13 +10,13 @@ Using the Python Interpreter
Invoking the Interpreter
========================

The Python interpreter is usually installed as :file:`/usr/local/bin/python3.6`
The Python interpreter is usually installed as :file:`/usr/local/bin/python3.7`
on those machines where it is available; putting :file:`/usr/local/bin` in your
Unix shell's search path makes it possible to start it by typing the command:

.. code-block:: text
python3.6
python3.7
to the shell. [#]_ Since the choice of the directory where the interpreter lives
is an installation option, other places are possible; check with your local
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -98,8 +98,8 @@ before printing the first prompt:

.. code-block:: shell-session
$ python3.6
Python 3.6 (default, Sep 16 2015, 09:25:04)
$ python3.7
Python 3.7 (default, Sep 16 2015, 09:25:04)
[GCC 4.8.2] on linux
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>>
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -138,25 +138,24 @@ should follow. To display all these characters properly, your editor must
recognize that the file is UTF-8, and it must use a font that supports all the
characters in the file.

It is also possible to specify a different encoding for source files. In order
to do this, put one more special comment line right after the ``#!`` line to
define the source file encoding::
To declare an encoding other than the default one, a special comment line
should be added as the *first* line of the file. The syntax is as follows::

# -*- coding: encoding -*-

With that declaration, everything in the source file will be treated as having
the encoding *encoding* instead of UTF-8. The list of possible encodings can be
found in the Python Library Reference, in the section on :mod:`codecs`.
where *encoding* is one of the valid :mod:`codecs` supported by Python.

For example, if your editor of choice does not support UTF-8 encoded files and
insists on using some other encoding, say Windows-1252, you can write::
For example, to declare that Windows-1252 encoding is to be used, the first
line of your source code file should be::

# -*- coding: cp-1252 -*-

and still use all characters in the Windows-1252 character set in the source
files. The special encoding comment must be in the *first or second* line
within the file.
One exception to the *first line* rule is when the source code starts with a
:ref:`UNIX "shebang" line <tut-scripts>`. In this case, the encoding
declaration should be added as the second line of the file. For example::

#!/usr/bin/env python3
# -*- coding: cp-1252 -*-

.. rubric:: Footnotes

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