Lecture 2 — Python Installation¶
Overview¶
Our first step is for each student to install Python 3.6 or greater, an integrated development environment. We will use Miniconda and Spyder IDE. Each of which is available to Windows, Mac OS X and Linux users. You are allowed to use other versions of these as long as you have Python 3.6 or greater, but you are strongly advised to use Miniconda and the Spyder IDE.
Installing Anaconda OR Miniconda¶
The Python 3.X system of packages (the core language plus useful Python software that other people have written and contributed) we will use is called Anaconda. This provides a powerful set of tools for data analytics and you can eventually move toward using these if you wish. For the course you can use a simple version of this distribution called Miniconda.
Using Spyder as the IDE (Integrated Development Environment)¶
We will use Spyder as the platform for writing, testing, debugging and editing our code. It provides a flexible environment to not only run an entire script but also test smaller chunks of code easily. Its easy to install and comes along with the Anaconda package. With Miniconda, it an be installed by typing a single command.
Lecture Notes/Slides¶
In this lecture we will cover the following:
Once the installation is complete we will jump into writing our very first program ‘Hello World’.
To print this output we make use of the Python built-in function called ‘print’.
We will learn how to run commands directly into the Python shell and also how to run a script.
Python can be used to write mathematical expressions and evaluate them. We will test with a few examples in class.
An elementary introduction to variables and a few of their types will also be covered.
-A complete guide to today’s lecture can be found here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1v-DbAn6Vqon8nVGnovyJIasflxcL_Wxu/view?usp=sharing