Software to Install#
We will need a number of software tools in the course, so you should make sure to have them installed and running before the first lecture. Please follow the instructions below to get set up. If you encounter any problems, visit the labs in the first week to get help.
We need the following software:
A Shell (Bash, ZSH, Fish,…)
Git version control
A text editor (or IDE)
Comprehensive software installation instructions for Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems (with video tutorials) are maintained by The Carpentries as part of their workshop website template at:
https://carpentries.github.io/workshop-template/#setup
You can follow those instructions to install the Bash shell, Git, a text editor and Python (via Anaconda). For Windows users only: Should git bash as installed by the carpentries instructions not work fully, consider activating WSL2 and running your bash commands there.
We recommend Anaconda as the method for installing Python, as it includes Conda as well as many of the packages we’ll use in this book.
Instead of or in addition to a text editor, you might also want to use an actual Integrated Development Environment (IDE) like VS Code, PyCharm, Eclipse or similar. Feel free to do so if you like, but it is neither required nor a focus of the course.
You can check if Make is already on your computer by typing make -v into the Bash shell.
If it is not, you can install it as follows:
Linux (Debian/Ubuntu): Install it from the Bash shell using
sudo apt-get install make.Mac: Install Xcode (via the App Store).
Windows: Follow the installation instructions maintained by the Master of Data Science program at the University of British Columbia.