Environment Setup

What You'll Learn

• Setting up Python development environments
• Working with Jupyter Notebooks and Google Colab
• Using VS Code for Python development
• Managing virtual environments
• Installing and managing packages

Development Environments

Jupyter Notebooks:

• Interactive computing environment
• Combines code, visualizations, and text
• Perfect for data analysis and exploration
• Runs in your browser

Google Colab:

• Free cloud-based Jupyter notebooks
• No setup required
• Free GPU access
• Easy sharing and collaboration

VS Code:

• Full-featured code editor
• Excellent Python support
• Integrated terminal and debugger
• Extensions for data science

Virtual Environments

Why use virtual environments?

• Isolate project dependencies
• Avoid package conflicts
• Reproducible environments
• Clean project structure

Creating virtual environment:

# Using venv
python -m venv myenv

# Activate on Windows
myenv\Scripts\activate

# Activate on Mac/Linux
source myenv/bin/activate

Package Management

pip - Python package installer:

# Install package
pip install pandas

# Install specific version
pip install pandas==1.5.0

# Install from requirements.txt
pip install -r requirements.txt

# List installed packages
pip list

# Create requirements.txt
pip freeze > requirements.txt

Essential packages for data analysis:

• pandas - Data manipulation
• numpy - Numerical computing
• matplotlib - Visualization
• seaborn - Statistical visualization
• jupyter - Interactive notebooks

Jupyter Notebooks

Starting Jupyter:

# Install Jupyter
pip install jupyter

# Start Jupyter Notebook
jupyter notebook

# Start JupyterLab
jupyter lab

Notebook shortcuts:

• Shift + Enter - Run cell
• Ctrl + Enter - Run cell (stay)
• A - Insert cell above
• B - Insert cell below
• DD - Delete cell
• M - Convert to Markdown
• Y - Convert to Code

Google Colab

Getting started:

1. Go to colab.research.google.com
2. Sign in with Google account
3. Create new notebook
4. Start coding!

Colab advantages:

• No setup required
• Free GPU/TPU access
• Google Drive integration
• Easy sharing

VS Code Setup

Installing Python extension:

1. Open VS Code
2. Go to Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X)
3. Search "Python"
4. Install Microsoft Python extension

Key features:

• IntelliSense (auto-completion)
• Debugging
• Linting
• Jupyter support
• Git integration

Best Practices

Project structure:

Environment management:

• One virtual environment per project
• Keep requirements.txt updated
• Document dependencies
• Use .gitignore for venv/