CS1100 Fall 2024 Python Installation Instructions

Our first step is for each student to install Python 3.6 or greater, an integrated development environment, and a cloud-based file back-up. We will use Miniconda, Spyder IDE and Dropbox, each of which is available to Windows, Mac OS X and Linux users. You are allowed to use other versions of these as long as you have Python 3.6 or greater, but you are strongly advised to use Miniconda and the Spyder IDE.

NOTE: You may consider installing Anaconda (instead of miniconda) in case you are running into issues. Anaconda comes with Spyder already installed. The only downside is that it takes more space on your computer. Link: https://www.anaconda.com/

Installing Python Using Miniconda and Spyder IDE

The Python 3.X system of packages (the core language plus useful Python software that other people have written and contributed) we will use is called Anaconda. This provides a powerful set of tools for data analytics and you can eventually move toward using these if you wish, but for now we will stick with a simple version called Miniconda.

• Install On Windows
• Install On Mac OS X
• Install On Linux

Dropbox

We strongly encourage you to use “cloud backup” for your course files. (A disk crash is not an acceptable excuse for a late homework.) We recommend Dropbox, but you can use any other cloud storage system you’d like. Dropbox works by creating a folder on your computer and automatically replicating this folder - and any subfolders you create - in the cloud. Therefore, the same files can be accessed on your computer, or through a web browser. They are automatically kept in sync whenever your computer is on the internet. In addition to protecting your files in case of a disk crash, Dropbox is handy if you’d like to work from a computer other than your own laptop (in, say, the VCC or something). Get started with Dropbox via:

https://www.dropbox.com/install

You will only need the free version for this course.

Finally, you’ll be creating A LOT of files for this class, and they’ll be quite a pain to keep up with unless you organize them somehow. Once you get Dropbox installed, go ahead and set up a file structure like:

Dropbox/cs1100/hw/
Dropbox/cs1100/lab/
Dropbox/cs1100/lecture/

etc. on your laptop. You’ll thank yourself (and us) later.