Python Notebooks

Hi, R. Welcome to an accelerated crash-course to Python that I hope you find faster, more complex, and (ultimately) more engaging than how you're learning right now. Heads up in advance, this is a total experiment and I have no idea if these are too easy or hard or boring, so please send me feedback so I can improve in the future!

Also, if you like these intro notebooks, I'd love to write more for you that go more in-depth into some useful algorithms and even physics and simulations, if you'd like. If there are other areas of interest for you, I'd be happy to write those resources for you too!

All said and done, let's get started!

– B

Installing the Environment

1. Download Python 3 here and download the package that corresponds to your computer
2. Install Python 3 by launching the downloaded file and following the instructions
3. Install Jupyter notebook by launching Terminal and typing in the command sudo pip3 install --upgrade notebook
4. Launch a session of Jupyter by typing jupyter notebook into Terminal

Downloading These Notebooks

1. Near the top-right of this page you should see a big green button that reads "Clone or download." Click on that button and select "Download ZIP."
2. Unzip the downloaded file and you should see a number of files with the extension .ipynb. These are the Python notebooks.

Opening a Notebook in Jupyter

1. If you haven't already, go to Terminal and type in jupyter notebook. Jupyter should open as a new tab in your web browser.
2. Jupyter displays your computer's file structure (similar to Finder if you're using a Mac). Navigate through your system until you find the folder that has the Python notebooks (if you're on a Mac this is most likely Downloads –> PythonNotebooks-master or something similar).
3. Select the first .ipynb file to open it in Jupyter!