What does the $ mean when running commands?

I’ve been learning Python, and I keep running into the $ character in online documentation. Usually it goes something like this:

$ python ez_setup.py (Yeah, I’ve been trying to install setup tools)

I’m fairly certain that this command isn’t for the python IDE or console, but I’ve tried windows cmd and it doesn’t work. Any help?

Answer

As of now, Python does not implement $ in its syntax. So, it has nothing to do with Python.

Instead, what you are seeing is the terminal prompt of a Unix-based system (Mac, Linux, etc.)