Python for Windows on Arm

Python has native support for Windows on Arm . Starting with version 3.11, an official installer is available. The latest version at time of writing is 3.12.0.

A number of developer ready Windows on Arm devices are available.

Windows on Arm instances are available with Microsoft Azure. For more information, see Deploy a Windows on Arm virtual machine on Microsoft Azure .

Download and install

The installer can be downloaded from the Python website . Locate the ARM64 installer.

You can also download from a PowerShell terminal.

    

        
        
            curl https://www.python.org/ftp/python/3.12.0/python-3.12.0-arm64.exe -O python-3.12.0-arm64.exe
        
    

Once downloaded, run the installer exe file on a Windows on Arm machine.

The installer will start.

Check Add python.exe to PATH if you want to easily invoke python from any directory.

Setup was successful is displayed when complete.

Invoke python

At a Windows Command prompt or a PowerShell prompt use python or py to start the interpreter.

    

        
        
            py
        
    

    

        
        Python 3.12.0 (tags/v3.12.0:0fb18b0, Oct  2 2023, 13:15:47) [MSC v.1935 64 bit (ARM64)] on win32
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>>

        
    

Enter exit() to leave interpreter.

    

        
        
            exit()
        
    

Test an example

To confirm python is working, save the code below into a file uname.py.

uname.py

    

        
        
            import platform
print("Python version", platform.python_version())
print("Machine is", platform.uname().system, platform.uname().release, platform.uname().machine)
        
    

Run the code.

    

        
        
            py uname.py
        
    

Running on a Windows on Arm machine produces the output similar to:

    

        
        Python version 3.12.0
Machine is Windows 11 ARM64

        
    

Installing packages

Python pip can be used to install packages.

For example, to install Flask :

    

        
        
            pip install Flask
        
    

Save the code below as hello.py:

hello.py

    

        
        
            import platform
from flask import Flask
app = Flask(__name__)

@app.route("/")
def hello():
    return "<h1><b>Hello from %s %s %s %s</b></h1>" % (platform.system(), platform.release(), platform.version(), platform.machine())

if __name__ == "__main__":
    app.run(host="0.0.0.0")
        
    

Run the application:

    

        
        
            python hello.py
        
    

The output will be similar to:

    

        
         * Serving Flask app 'hello'
 * Debug mode: off
WARNING: This is a development server. Do not use it in a production deployment. Use a production WSGI server instead.
 * Running on all addresses (0.0.0.0)
 * Running on http://127.0.0.1:5000
 * Running on http://10.8.0.10:5000
Press CTRL+C to quit

        
    

Open a browser to the URL printed by the application. In this example:

    

        
        
            http://127.0.0.1:5000
        
    

The output is displayed in the browser window.

The accesses are reported in the command prompt:

    

        
        127.0.0.1 - - [<timestamp>] "GET / HTTP/1.1" 200 -
127.0.0.1 - - [<timestamp>] "GET /favicon.ico HTTP/1.1" 404 -
10.8.0.10 - - [<timestamp>] "GET / HTTP/1.1" 200 -
10.8.0.10 - - [<timestamp>] "GET /favicon.ico HTTP/1.1" 404 -

        
    

Use Ctrl+C to kill the application.

Using IDLE

Python IDLE is included in the installation. IDLE is a simple IDE for python development. You can locate it in your start menu.

You can create and run Python applications in this environment.

For example, use File > Open... (Ctrl+O) to open the above uname.py.

Then select Run > Run module (F5) to execute.

You are now ready to use Python on your Windows on Arm device.