Installing Python and Jupyter

Download Miniconda

There are many ways to install python for use on your machine. One of the most popular ways is to use Anaconda - a distribution of Python designed for data science. Anaconda contains many programs that may not be applicable to your application. Miniconda, on the other hand, is a paired-down version of Anaconda that allows you to install new modules as you need them. As a result, it takes up far less storage on your machine. Miniconda will include Python (the programming language) and conda (the package manager).

To download Miniconda, navigate to https://docs.conda.io/en/latest/miniconda.html and choose a Conda Installer that pertains to your system. For Windows machines, the majority of machines are 64-bit. For MacOS, choose the pkg file which pertains to your chip (see HERE).

Set up a conda environment

After you have downloaded miniconda, set up a conda environment. Begin by opening up a terminal of your choice. On Windows, you can open the “Anaconda Prompt” application by searching for it in the start menu. On Mac, you can open a standard Terminal in the Applications/Utilities directory.

With your terminal open, create a conda environment called cs122 with Python version 3.11 using the following command:

conda create --name cs122 python=3.11

By default, conda will automatically activate a “base” environment on your machine. To disable this behavior, you may want to run the following:

conda config --set auto_activate_base false

Now, activate your environment as follows:

conda activate cs122

Every time you use your environment, you will need to activate it from the command line.

Next, download the pertinent modules required for this course:

conda install numpy
conda install matplotlib

Finally, configure your environment to use in a jupyter notebook.

On machine running MacOS use:

python3 -m ipykernel install --user --name=cs122

On Windows, use:

python -m ipykernel install --user --name=cs122