Pip3 is a version of the pip installer for python3, which can download and configure new python modules with a simple one line command like…
pip3 install --user pyserial
Pip3 relies on PyPI (the Python Package Index) which is a software repository where versions of community-managed modules are maintained.
When you issue a command like pip3 install --user pyserial it checks an online repository and downloads the pyserial package (which may contain multiple modules) . Pip3 then puts the modules in a designated place in your computer, and updates a local index to record where they can be found. Then you will be able to use them from python3.
For example after running the install command above, you can then type the following into a terminal console.
python3 -m serial.tools.list_ports
This instructs your laptop to use the list_ports module inside serial.tools and tells you the names of the Serial UART connections currently attached. It should print out information like…
/dev/ttyS4
/dev/ttyUSB0
2 ports found
To install Pip3 follow these instructions.