Python is a modern, robust, high level programming language. It is very easy to pick up even if you are completely new to programming.
Mac OS X and Linux comes pre installed with python. Windows users can download python from https://www.python.org/downloads/ .
To install a package (for example jupyter) run,
$> pip install --user jupyter[all]
This will install all the necessary dependencies for the notebook, qtconsole, tests etc.
Installing all the necessary libraries might prove troublesome. Anaconda and Canopy comes pre packaged with all the necessary python libraries and also IPython.
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Download Anaconda from https://www.continuum.io/downloads
Anaconda is completely free and includes more than 700 python packages. Both python 2.7 and 3.5 options are available.
More information: https://docs.continuum.io/
Download Canopy from https://store.enthought.com/downloads/#default
Canopy has a premium version which offers 300+ python packages. But the free version works just fine. Canopy as of now supports only 2.7 but it comes with its own text editor and IPython environment.
We will get you to install an extremely useful tool to help keep your coding environment tidy on your computer. It's possible to skip this step, but it's highly recommended. Starting with the best possible setup will save you a lot of trouble in the future!
So, let's create a virtual environment (also called a virtualenv). Virtualenv will isolate your Python setup on a per-project basis.
Creating a virtualenv on both Linux and OS X is as simple as running
$> conda create -n myenv python
myenv is the name of your virtualenv. You can use any other name, but stick to lowercase and use no spaces. It is also good idea to keep the name short as you'll be referencing it a lot.
$> source activate myenvironment
You will know that you have virtualenv started when you see that the prompt in your console is prefixed with (myvenvironment).
$> conda install packagename
Example to install jupyter notebook
$> conda install jupyter
For more information: https://docs.continuum.io/
To create a virtualenv on both Linux and OS X you need to install virtualenv functionality:
$> pip install virtualenv
And then create the virtual environment
$> cd my_project_folder
$> virtualenv myvirtualenv
myvirtualenv is the name of your virtualenv. You can use any other name, but stick to lowercase and use no spaces. It is also good idea to keep the name short as you'll be referencing it a lot.
$> source myvirtualenv/bin/activate
You will know that you have virtualenv started when you see that the prompt in your console is prefixed with (myvirtualenv).
$> pip install packagename
Example to install jupyter notebook
$> pip install jupyter
From the terminal, after activating the virtual environment:
$> jupyter notebook
Download all the jupyter notebooks from this repository https://github.com/atugores/Python-Lectures
Launch jupyter notebook from the folder which contains the notebooks. Open each one of them
Cell > All Output > Clear
This will clear all the outputs and now you can understand each statement and learn interactively.
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