148 lines
6.7 KiB
Markdown
148 lines
6.7 KiB
Markdown
**Important**: The notebooks are being added throughout the fall semester of 2019!
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# An Introduction to Python and Programming
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The purpose of this repository is to serve as an interactive "book" for a
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thorough introductory course on programming in the
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**[Python](https://www.python.org/)** language.
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The course's **main goal** is to **prepare** the student for **further
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studies** in the "field" of **data science**.
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The "chapters" are written in [Jupyter notebooks](https://jupyter-notebook.readthedocs.io/en/stable/)
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which are a de-facto standard for exchanging code and results among data
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science professionals and researchers.
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As such they can be viewed in a plain web browser:
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- [00 - Start up](https://nbviewer.jupyter.org/github/webartifex/intro-to-python/blob/master/00_start_up.ipynb)
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- [01 - Elements of a Program](https://nbviewer.jupyter.org/github/webartifex/intro-to-python/blob/master/01_elements.ipynb)
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- [02 - Functions & Modularization](https://nbviewer.jupyter.org/github/webartifex/intro-to-python/blob/master/02_functions.ipynb)
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- [03 - Conditionals & Exceptions](https://nbviewer.jupyter.org/github/webartifex/intro-to-python/blob/master/03_conditionals.ipynb)
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- [04 - Recursion & Looping](https://nbviewer.jupyter.org/github/webartifex/intro-to-python/blob/master/04_iteration.ipynb)
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- [05 - Numbers](https://nbviewer.jupyter.org/github/webartifex/intro-to-python/blob/master/05_numbers.ipynb)
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However, it is recommended that students **install Python and Jupyter
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locally** and run the code in the notebooks on their own.
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This way, the student can play with the code and learn more efficiently.
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Precise **installation instructions** are either in the [00th notebook](
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https://nbviewer.jupyter.org/github/webartifex/intro-to-python/blob/master/00_start_up.ipynb)
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or further below.
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Feedback is encouraged and will be incorporated.
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Open an issue in the [issues tracker](https://github.com/webartifex/intro-to-python/issues)
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or initiate a [pull request](https://help.github.com/en/articles/about-pull-requests)
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if you are familiar with the concept.
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## Prerequisites
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To be suitable for *total beginners*, there are *no* formal prerequisites.
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It is only expected that the student has:
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- a *solid* understanding of the **English language**,
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- knowledge of **basic mathematics** from high school,
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- the ability to **think conceptually** and **reason logically**, and
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- the willingness to **invest 2-4 hours a day for a month**.
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## Installation
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To follow this course, a working installation of **Python 3.6** or higher is
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expected.
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A popular and beginner friendly way is to install the [Anaconda Distribution](
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https://www.anaconda.com/distribution/) that not only ships Python but comes
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pre-packaged with a lot of third-party libraries from the so-called
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"scientific stack".
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Just go to the [download](https://www.anaconda.com/distribution/#download-section)
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section and install the latest version (i.e., *2019-07* with Python 3.7 at the
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time of this writing) for your operating system.
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Then, among others, you will find an entry "Jupyter Notebook" in your start
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menu like below.
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Click on it and a new tab in your web browser will open where you can switch
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between folders as you could in your computer's default file browser.
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<img src="static/anaconda.png" width="50%">
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To download the course's materials as a ZIP file, click on the green "Clone or
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download" button on the top right on this website.
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Then, unpack the ZIP file into a folder of your choosing (ideally somewhere
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within your personal user folder so that the files show up right away).
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### Alternative Installation
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Python can also be installed in a "pure" way as obtained from its core
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development team (i.e., without any third-party packages installed).
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However, this is somewhat too "advanced" for a beginner as it involves working
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with a terminal emulator, which looks similar to the picture below and is
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used without a mouse by typing commands into it.
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<img src="static/terminal.png" width="50%" align="center">
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Assuming that you already have a working version of Python 3.6 or higher
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installed (cf., the official [download page](https://www.python.org/downloads/)),
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the following summarizes the commands to be typed into a terminal emulator to
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get the course materials up and running on a local machine without Anaconda.
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You are then responsible for understanding the concepts behind them.
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First, the [git](https://git-scm.com/) command line tool is a more professional
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way of "cloning" the course materials as compared to downloading them in a ZIP
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file.
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- `git clone https://github.com/webartifex/intro-to-python.git`
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This creates a new folder *intro-to-python* with all the materials of this
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repository in it.
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Inside this folder, it is recommended to create a so-called **virtual
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environment** with Python's [venv](https://docs.python.org/3/library/venv.html)
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module.
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This must only be done the first time.
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A virtual environment is a way of *isolating* the third-party packages
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installed by different projects, which is considered a best practice.
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- `python -m venv venv`
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The second *venv* is the environment's name and by convention often chosen to
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be *venv*.
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However, it could be another name as well.
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From then on, each time you want to resume work, go back into the
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*intro-to-python* folder inside your terminal and "activate" the virtual
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environment (*venv* is the name chosen before).
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- `source venv/bin/activate`
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This may change how the terminal's [command prompt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command-line_interface#Command_prompt)
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looks.
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[poetry](https://poetry.eustace.io/docs/) and [virtualenvwrapper](https://virtualenvwrapper.readthedocs.io/en/latest/)
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are popular tools to automate the described management of virtual environments.
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After activation for the first time, you must install the project's
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**dependencies** (= the third-party packages needed to run the code), most
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notably [Jupyter](https://pypi.org/project/jupyter/) in this project (the
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"python -m" is often left out; if you have poetry installed, you may just
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type `poetry install` instead).
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- `python -m pip install -r requirements.txt`
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With everything installed, you can now do the equivalent of clicking the
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"Jupyter Notebook" entry in your start menu.
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- `jupyter notebook`
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This opens a new tab in your web browser just as above.
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## About the Author
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Alexander Hess is a PhD student at the Chair of Logistics Management at the
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[WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management](https://www.whu.edu) where he
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conducts research on urban delivery platforms and teaches an introductory
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course on Python (cf., [course listing](https://vlv.whu.edu/campus/all/event.asp?objgguid=0xE57C2715B01B441AAFD3E79AA05CACCF&from=vvz&gguid=0x6A2B0ED5B2B949E69957A2099E7DE2F1&mode=own&tguid=0x3980A9BBC3BF4A638E977F2DC163F44B&lang=en)).
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Connect him on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/webartifex).
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