These materials are a part of the Introduction to Python Programming and Data Science Bootcamp that is run at Northwestern University. This bootcamp is graciously sponsored by Northwestern University as a part of its Big Data Initiative.
Any comments, questions, or concerns can be directed to:
- Luis A.N. Amaral amaral@northwestern.edu
- Adam R. Pah adamrpah@gmail.com
There is a basic core that is necessary to install in order to interactively use these course materials (which is how this bootcamp should be done). The two main requirements are:
- Anaconda Python 3.4
We use the Anaconda Python distribution because of its ease of installation. Currently we have installation videos for both Mac OS X (OS X 10.10 version) and Microsoft Windows (Windows 8). These can be found on-line at:
- OS X https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQhOyZXHkxI
- Windows https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w16iUU6IA5E
If you have Windows, you must turn off your anti-virus before installing Anaconda.
While those exact operating system versions are not necessary, the installation on your personal computer will differ from the videos if it is not the same. If you do not have a machine with at least Windows 7 or OS X 10.8 we suggest that you use a different machine, since several of the modules will run very slowly on your hardware.
The course materials can be downloaded from the repository's github page. Just download the zip file and unzip it onto your Desktop.
This text and the majority of the course will conducted with IPython Notebook http://ipython.org/notebook.html. IPython Notebook is a 'web-based interactive computational environment', meaning that it allows to write and execute python code in a web page from our own computers. The IPython Notebook is a relatively new tool and we believe that is an excellent way to teach the basics of python programming and computational data analysis.
IPython Notebook is installed by default with the Anaconda Python distribution so everyone that has followed the installation instructions will have it. A basic demonstration of how to start an IPython Notebook server and use it is here <need.video.com>
This course has been built through the efforts of many that have served as teaching assistants and lecturers in the real world. We would like to thank:
- Alessandro Febretti
- Justin Finkle
- Adam Hockenberry
- Hyojun Lee
- Jeff Lunt
- Joao Moreira
- Jackie Milhans
- Aaron Oppenheimer
- Nick Timkovich
- Max Wasserman
- Peter Winter
- Jia Wu