Materials for the 2017 Data Analysis with Python DataFest workshop at Duke University.

Instructions for Participants

Before you Attend the Workshop

Please try to complete the following setup instructions before the day of the workshop. They take you through installing a conda environment on your computer containing common Python packages for data analysis as well as the Jupyter Notebook tool.

If you get stuck, don't worry. You can ask for help from the instructors and other participants in our Gitter chat room. We'll also have some time at the beginning of the session to help you. If you already have an environment setup for data analysis with Python, don't worry. These instructions will not touch your existing setup.

We highly recommend following these instructions to get a setup that matches what the instructors and other students are using, even if you already have Anaconda and Jupyter install.

1. Grab your Windows 7+, Mac OS X 10.11+, or Linux laptop.
2. Visit updatemybrowser.org to make sure you have a modern web browser installed. If you don't, download and install either Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox for free.
3. Visit the Data Analysis with Python releases page.
4. Click the link next to the latest datafest installer for your computer.
5. Save the installer to your typical downloads folder.
   • Windows: C:\User\<your username>\Downloads
   • Linux/OSX: ~/Downloads

When the download completes, continue to the section for your operating system below.

Windows

1. Use Windows Explorer to open your Downloads folder.
2. Double-click the installer file you downloaded.
3. Step through the pages of the installer, using the default values except in two cases:
   1. Choose C:\Users\<your username>\datafest for the install location, substituting the appropriate drive letter if C is not your main drive.
   2. Uncheck both checkboxes on the Advanced Options page.
4. Click Install.
5. Click Finish when the installer completes.
6. Click the Start menu button in the task bar.
7. Type cmd in the search box and press Enter.
8. Enter the following commands, one per line, in the terminal window.

# switches to your home directory
cd %userprofile%
# activates the conda environment you installed
datafest\Scripts\activate
# pulls the workshop materials from GitHub
git clone https://github.com/maxpoint/datafest-2017.git
# runs a Jupyter Notebook server for local use
jupyter notebook --notebook-dir .\datafest-2017\notebooks

If your web browser opens to a page with the Jupyter logo in the top right corner, congratualations, you have everything you need. If not, ask for help in our Gitter chat room.

After testing your setup, you can clean up by pressing Ctrl-C twice in the command prompt window, closing that window, and closing any Jupyter Notebook tabs in your web browser.

Mac / Linux

1. Open a Terminal application.
2. Enter the following commands, one per line, in the terminal window.

# switches to the folder where you saved the installer
cd ~/Downloads
# runs the installer
bash datafest-*.sh -b -p ~/datafest

# switches to your home directory
cd ~
# activates the conda environment you installed
source datafest/bin/activate
# pulls the workshop materials from GitHub
git clone https://github.com/maxpoint/datafest-2017.git
# runs a Jupyter Notebook server for local use
jupyter notebook --notebook-dir ./datafest-2017/notebooks

If your web browser opens to a page with the Jupyter logo in the top right corner, congratualations, you have everything you need. If not, ask for help in our Gitter chat room.

After testing your setup, you can clean up by pressing Ctrl-C twice in the terminal window, closing the terminal window, and closing any Jupyter Notebook tabs in your web browser.

During the Workshop

If you have not setup your laptop following the instructions above, you can do so starting from a thumbdrive that the instructors will hand out at the start of the workshop.

1. Plug the thumbdrive into your laptop.
2. Find the installer that matches your operating system.
3. Drag the installer to your Downloads folder. Do not try to run the installer from the thumbdrive. You'll be waiting forever for it to complete.
4. Continue with the setup instructions for Windows, Mac, or Linux above.

After you have all of the necessary software set up, the instructors will guide you through staring and using Jupyter Notebook to analyze sample datasets on the day of the workshop. You can start the notebook server before the session begins by opening a command prompt and running the following commands.

Windows

# switches to your home directory
cd
# activates the conda environment you installed
datafest\Scripts\activate
# makes sure you have the latest and greatest workshop materials
cd datafest-2017
git pull origin master
# runs a Jupyter Notebook server for local use
jupyter notebook --notebook-dir .\notebooks

Mac / Linux

# switches to your home directory
cd ~
# activates the conda environment you installed
source datafest/bin/activate
# makes sure you have the latest and greatest workshop materials
cd datafest-2017
git pull origin master
# runs a Jupyter Notebook server for local use
jupyter notebook --notebook-dir ./notebooks

During DataFest

You can reuse the tools from the workshop during DataFest. Simply run the commands from the previous section to start Jupyter Notebook and have at it!

Instructions for Admins

To build the installers:

# on a Windows box
constructor . --platform win-32
constructor . --platform win-64

# on an OSX box
constructor . --platform osx-64
constructor . --platform linux-32
constructor . --platform linux-64