#[Sign-In Sheet for Week 7 - Pandas] (https://goo.gl/forms/0MPxmIMMuHJXxyIw1)
Fall 2016
In this repo, you will find guides to help you go through the core Python topics.
In order to take full advantage of the resources, you will need the following software:
- [Git] (https://git-scm.com/downloads)
- [Anaconda] (https://www.continuum.io/downloads)
Once you have downloaded and installed Git (https://git-scm.com/downloads), you have to clone this repo (i.e. download all the folders and files). To clone the repo, do the following:
- OS X/ Linux: after you have created a directory to store the materials, Open Terminal (Applications/Utilities/Terminal) and navigate to the directory you created.
- Windows: create a directory for the materials and open it. Once in the directory, right-click and select "Git Bash Here."
To clone this repo, type the following command and press Enter:
git clone https://github.com/CRMDA-python/tutorial.git
Download and install Anaconda, a data science platform based on Python. Go to https://www.continuum.io/downloads, and choose your operating system. Make sure to download the Python 3.5 version. A few notes on the installation process:
- By default, Anaconda will do a local installation - all the necessary files will be in a location where you have read & write rights. Unless you have a custom configuration system and know what you are doing, I strongly suggest you go with the default installation location.
- OS X/Linux: when asked if you wish the installer to prepend Anaconda's installation location to your PATH in .bashrc, go ahead and type yes. Unless you know what that means; then, you can make your own decision.
- Windows: Install with the default options. Once the installation is complete, go to your programs and find the Anaconda3 folder. In that folder, you will find an executable called "Anaconda Prompt." I recommend that you make a shortcut to that executable on your desktop. To create e shortcut on your desktop, right-click on the executable, then "Send to," and finally select Desktop.
We have a number of options when it comes to programming in Python.
- Python IDLE: The Python Integrated Development and Learning Environment is a GUI editor for Python code that was developed by Python.
- Python IDEs: Integrated Development Environment is a fancy text editor that comes with a built-in Python interpreter. Spyder (included in the Anaconda distribution) and PyCharm are two such IDEs. The "professional" version of PyCharm is free for students (https://www.jetbrains.com/student/).
- Jupyter Notebook: Previously known as iPython Notebooks, Jupyter Notebooks are documents that contain code and narrative, and can be easily shared. I will use "Python Notebook" and "Jupyter Notebook" interchangeably.
We will use Jupyter Notebooks for the duration of the 6-week Python crash course. In fact, all the guides in this repository are Jupyter Notebooks. The nice thing about the Notebooks is that you can use them in your browser, and they serve just like an IDLE.
To open a Jupyter Notebook, open your Terminal/Anaconda Prompt, and navigate to the Python workgroup directory. Then, type "jupyter notebook." If everything goes well, your browser will open a new page with the Jupyter logo in the upper left corner and a list of the directory contents. Click on "week1" to enter the directory containing the guide for the first week. In that directory there is a file with the ".ipynb" extension to indicate that it's a Python Notebook. When you click the notebook, it will open in a new tab/window, and you can read/edit/use it.
[Borrow the book] (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8oQDdzmO1QneTI0bVRmZlJ2dEk/view?usp=sharing)