Welcome to the Data Science Prep Course repository! 🧑💻
Your first step in this journey is to carefully read the steps in this tutorial. You'll learn:
Follow these steps to make sure your machine is ready before the course starts (April 5, 2021).
1.1 (a) Windows 10 Setup
1.1 (b) Ubuntu Setup
1.1 (c) MacOS Setup
1.1 (d) MacOS M1 Setup
1.3 Setup your Workspace Repository
1.4 Clone the ds-prep-course-2021 repository
Here you'll setup and learn about all the tools you'll be using during the academy. Don't worry if you can't figure out what some of the commands you will use do. Anything that is important will be explained in more detail during the course.
⚠️ Important: You should complete this setup by April 5, as the course will begin on that day. If you are struggling to install any of the software mentioned below, tell us ASAP!
This section deals with setting up Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) on Windows 10. If you are using Ubuntu, skip this section (go to Ubuntu Setup). If you are using MacOS, skip this section (go to MacOS Setup).
Step 1: Follow this guide to setup WSL on Windows 10.
Why do I need to install WSL?
Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) enables you to run Linux command line inside Windows. All of our setup instructions are created for Mac OS/Ubuntu, so we won't be able to provide support on how to do it on Windows.
Step 2: Open a terminal (remember this!!) and run the following command:
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade && sudo apt install git
Step 3: Open a terminal (remember this!!) and check if you already have python3.7
by usind the command below. If your version is Python 3.7.x
(x
= any number), you can skip to step 4, otherwise continue with step 3.1 and 3.2
python3.7 --version
Step 3.1: Run the following commands to setup Python 3.7 (if you get an error with this command, check this ):
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:deadsnakes/ppa
Step 3.2: Run the following commands to install Python 3.7
sudo apt update && sudo apt install python3.7 -y
Step 4 Run the following command to get pip
and venv
:
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade && sudo apt install python3-pip python3.7-venv -y
Why do we install these?
We'll be using
pip
which is the reference Python package manager. You should always use a virtual environment to install python packages. We'll usevenv
to set them up.
This sections deals with installing some necessary packages.
Step 2: Open a terminal and run the following command:
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade && sudo apt install git
Step 3: Open a terminal and check what version of Python you have by using the command below. If your version is Python 3.7.x
(x
= any number), you can skip to step 4, otherwise continue with step 3.1 and 3.2
python3.7 --version
Step 3.1: Run the following commands to setup Python 3.7 (if you get an error with this command, check this ):
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:deadsnakes/ppa
Step 3.2: Run the following commands to install Python 3.7
sudo apt update && sudo apt install python3.7 -y
Step 4 Run the following command to get pip
and venv
:
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade && sudo apt install python3-pip python3.7-venv -y
Why do we install these?
We'll be using
pip
which is the reference Python package manager. You should always use a virtual environment to install python packages. We'll usevenv
to set them up.
Some of the steps in the following sections will require Homebrew for MacOS. Homebrew will make it easier to install software that we'll use later on.
Step 1: To open the terminal, choose one:
By pressing cmd + space then type terminal
and press enter.
The terminal should now be open:
Step 2: To install Homebrew for MacOS, copy and paste the following line in the terminal:
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install.sh)"
Step 2.1: Sometimes it's necessary to install xcode command line utils. To do so, do the following command before installing homebrew:
xcode-select --install
You may be prompted to install the Command Line Developers Tools. Confirm and, once it finishes, continue installing Homebrew by pressing enter again.
Step 3: open a terminal and run the following command:
brew update --verbose
Step 4: then run the following command:
brew install git
Step 5: then run the following command:
brew install python@3.7
Step 6: then run the following command:
brew link python@3.7
So you got the new M1 and you're supper happy with how fast it is.. Unfortunately dealing with apple silicon requires a little get around. You no longer have a intel chip and most things are available for intel. But don't worry, we'll be able to get there in the end.
Step 1: To open the terminal, choose one:
By pressing cmd + space then type terminal
and press enter.
The terminal should now be open:
Step 1.1: To use intel-based software, you'll need Rosetta2. Most of you should already have it installed for varied reasons. If you don't simply run the following line in the terminal:
softwareupdate --install-rosetta
This will launch the rosetta installer and you’ll have to agree to a license agreement.
Step 2: To install Homebrew x86 version, aka ibrew
for MacOS, copy and paste the following line in the terminal:
arch -x86_64 /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install.sh)"
Step 2.1: Sometimes it's necessary to install xcode command line utils. To do so, do the following command before installing homebrew:
xcode-select --install
Step 3: Add an alias with ibrew
to your $PATH
Step 3.1: Open .zshrc with nano to edit the file
nano ~/.zshrc
Step 3.2: Add the alias for ibrew
at the end of the file
alias ibrew="arch -x86_64 /usr/local/bin/brew"
Step 3.3: Save the alterations to .zshrc with Ctrl + Ctrl, and enter Y when asked to save alterations.
Step 3.4: Activate the alterations done to .zshrc
source ~/.zshrc
Step 4: Install python 3.7 with ibrew
ibrew install python@3.7
Step 5: Add python 3.7 to $PATH
export PATH="/usr/local/opt/python@3.7/bin:$PATH" >> ~/.zshrc
Step 6 Re-activate the alterations done to .zshrc
source ~/.zshrc
Git is a distributed version-control system for tracking changes in source code. A repository is where code lives, and the code from the prep course will live at ds-prep-course-2021
repository (basically where you are right now, reading this). All the learning materials and exercises will be released (made available) on this repository.
Step 1: Sign up for a GitHub account and follow the instructions.
Step 2: Open a terminal. Configure your email and username by running the 3 commands below. (replace mig.dias.1212@gmail.com
below with the same email you used for github and buedaswag
with your GitHub username).
git config --global user.email "mig.dias.1212@gmail.com"
git config --global user.username "buedaswag"
git config --global user.name "Bueda Swag"
The workspace directory/repository is where you will place everything you are working on, solve exercises, make changes to files, etc.
Step 1: Log into GitHub
Step 2: In the upper-right corner of the page, click the "+" button and select New repository
:
Step 3: Create a new private repository called ds-prep-workspace
.
You need to explicitly select Private - This is your private work environment.
Initialize with a README.
Add a Python .gitignore
.
You can also check Creating a new repository on GitHub for help.
Step 1: Open a terminal (or use one you've already opened)
Step 2: Create a folder named projects
by using the mkdir
command:
mkdir ~/projects
Step 3: Enter the folder by using the cd
command:
cd ~/projects
Step 4: You can now clone the ds-prep-workspace
repository you created on GitHub.
Replace <username>
below with your github username, removing the brackets < >
, and run the command:
git clone https://github.com/<username>/ds-prep-workspace.git
Step 5: You'll be asked for your git username. Type it and press enter. Then you'll be asked for your git password. Type it and press enter
You should now have a local copy of your ds-prep-workspace
in your ~/projects/ds-prep-workspace
folder.
Note: If you already have a Github account and you happen to have 2FA enabled, you need an extra step and simply inputting your password will not work. In this case, you can go to https://github.com/settings/tokens, click on Generate new token
. You can give it a name in the note field, such as ldsa-token
. Then select repo
in the scopes and click on Generate token
. You will be prompted with a code that you should save (you will not be able to see it again after leaving that window). Now use this code instead of your password when cloning your repo.
Remember that by August 13, 2021, the username+password authentication will no longer be supported.
ds-prep-course-2021
repositoryLet's clone the ds-prep-course-2021
repository, just like we did for ds-prep-workspace
. This is where all of the learning materials will be made available, as the academy progresses.
Step 1: Open a terminal (or use one you've already opened) and enter the projects
folder:
cd ~/projects
Step 2: Clone the Prep Course repository (it's the same that contains the README you're reading right now!):
git clone https://github.com/LDSSA/ds-prep-course-2021.git
Before you work on a learning unit, you'll need to activate a virtual environment. By using a virtual environment, you ensure that you have a stable and compatible set of Python packages. On the Prep Course we will use the same environment throughout. As a data scientist though, you'll probably create different environments for different purposes or projects.
Step 1: Start by ensuring pip
, setuptools
, and wheel
are up to date:
python3.7 -m pip install --user --upgrade pip setuptools wheel
Step 2: Create a virtual environment with the name prep-venv
:
python3.7 -m venv ~/.virtualenvs/prep-venv
Step 3: Activate the environment
source ~/.virtualenvs/prep-venv/bin/activate
After you activate your virtual environment you should see at the leftmost of your command line the name of your virtual environment surrounded by parenthesis, like this:
(prep-venv) mig@macbook-pro %
Step 4: Last but not least, don't forget to update pip
.
pip install -U pip
Finally, test the workflow (next section) on "Week 00"
before April 5. This folder is used to give instructors guidelines to produce the learning units. We are also using it to ensure that you are able to run and submit a learning unit.
Each week a new folder is released on ds-prep-course-2021
repository. On week 1 (April 5 - April 11), the folder released will be "Week 01"
. On week 02, it will be called "Week 02"
, and so on. These folders contain the learning units you'll be working on. The releases will be announced on Slack, on the #announcements channel.
This section only needs to be done ONCE for each week. It is about getting the materials, copying them to your local workspace and adding new packages to your virtual environment.
Run the following on a terminal:
cd ~/projects/ds-prep-course-2021/
git pull
⚠️ Before running the command below: - If "Week <week number>"
already exists on the destination folder, it will be replaced, so make sure you do this once and before starting to work on the exercises.
cp -r ~/projects/ds-prep-course-2021/"Week <week number>" ~/projects/ds-prep-workspace/
prep-venv
environment you created on the Initial Setup:
source ~/.virtualenvs/prep-venv/bin/activate
Install the python packages from requirements.txt
for each learning unit (there are multiple learning units (SLU's) in a Week!):
pip install -r ~/projects/ds-prep-workspace/"Week <week number>"/"<SLU name>"/requirements.txt
Example: For Week 00 you'd do:
pip install -r ~/projects/ds-prep-workspace/"Week 00"/"SLU00 - Jupyter Notebook"/requirements.txt
Each time you want to work on the materials that you already copied to your workspace, follow these steps.
Step 1 - Enter the ds-prep-workspace
directory:
cd ~/projects/ds-prep-workspace
Step 2 - Activate your virtual environment:
source ~/.virtualenvs/prep-venv/bin/activate
Step 3 - Open the Jupyter Notebook application by running:
jupyter notebook
If you are running Windows 10, run the following instead:
jupyter notebook --NotebookApp.use_redirect_file=False
When you run the jupyter notebook
command, you should see something similar to this in your terminal:
and your browser should pop up with Jupyter open. However, if this does not happen, you can simply copy the link you see on your terminal (the one that starts by http://localhost
) and past it in your browser's address bar.
Note: If you see some scary looking messages, don't worry, you can just ignore them.
Step 4 - Work on the learning unit
All learning units come as a set of Jupyter Notebooks. These are documents that can contain text, images and live code that you can run interactively.
⚠️ Important: ALWAYS work on the files on your
ds-prep-workspace
repository. NEVER work on files inside in theds-prep-course-2021
repository!
Exercise Notebook:
This is a notebook with exercises you will work on. For example, on the sample Learning Unit we have:
Follow the instructions provided in the notebook. You'll see cells with the exercises and cells for you to write solutions.
Once you've solved all of the exercises we recommend following this simple checklist to avoid unexpected surprises:
Save the notebook (again)
Run "Restart & Run All"
At this point the notebook should have run without any error messages showing up.
Close the browser and the terminal.
Step 5 - Commit and push
Open a terminal and run the following:
cd ~/projects/ds-prep-workspace
git add .
git commit -m "Exercises for Week <week number>"
git push
You'll be asked for your password - enter it and press enter. Type your git password and press enter.
git add
, git commit
and git push
during the Prep Course. For now, just know that these are the necessary steps for you to save your work to your remote repository ds-prep-workspace
.As much as we try and have processes in place to prevent errors and bugs in the learning units some make it through to you.
If the problem is not in the exercise notebook you can just pull the new version from the ds-prep-course-2021
repo and replace the file on your ds-prep-workspace
(steps 1 and 2 from last section).
If the correction is in the exercise notebook, however, you can't just replace the file because your work is there and you'll lose it!
When a new version of the exercise notebook is released (and announced) you will have to merge the work you've already did into the new version of the notebook.
At the moment our suggestion to merge the changes is:
We understand it's not ideal and are working on improving this workflow.
During the Prep Course you will surely run into problems and have questions about the materials. Please refer to this wiki page on how to ask for help!
You can contact us on Slack. Here's how to post questions on Slack:
Alternatively, open an issue.
ds prep course-2021
repository, I get an errorjupyter notebook
, I get an errorcp
command the >
sign appears and the command does not executePlease make sure:
explorer.exe .
including the dot at the end.1909
or newer.1909
or newer.ds-prep-course-2021
repository, I get an errorIf you get an error like the following when pulling:
error: Your local changes to the following files would be overwritten by merge:
<some files>
Please commit your changes or stash them before you merge.
Aborting
what git is telling you is that changes were made by you to the files on the ~/projects/ds-prep-course-2021
folder, and is not pulling the changes made by the instructors because they would override the changes that you made there.
To fix this do the following:
Make sure that any change you made to the files on ~/projects/ds-prep-course-2021
(that you don't want to lose) is saved in your ~/projects/ds-prep-workspace
repository (refer to Updates to Learning Units on how to do this), and if you don't want to keep the changes you made to these files, just continue on to the next step;
Go to the ~/projects/ds-prep-course-2021
folder and run:
cd ~/projects/ds-prep-course-2021
git stash
Now you can pull from the ds-prep-course-2021
repository:
git pull
jupyter notebook
, I get an errorIf you get this error when trying to open a notebook:
migs-MBP% jupyter notebook
zsh: command not found: jupyter
make sure to activate your virtual environment before opening jupyter notebook
:
source ~/.virtualenvs/prep-venv/bin/activate
cp
command the >
sign appears and the command does not executecp -r ~/projects/ds-prep-course-2021/“Week 00" ds-prep-workspace
>
Make sure to use this type of quotes "
and not these ones “
.
When I run this command:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:deadsnakes/ppa
I get this error:
W: GPG error: http://apt.postgresql.org/pub/repos/apt focal-pgdg InRelease: The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY 7FCC7D46ACCC4CF8
Solution: Take the id in front of NO_PUBKEY
(in my case its 7FCC7D46ACCC4CF8
) and run the following command:
sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 7FCC7D46ACCC4CF8
In step two it asks me for the computer password. However, I am not being able to write anything
Solution: When you write your password you might not get any visual feedback and that's okay! Write it as normal and hit enter when you're done!
I've completed the exercise in the Exercise Notebook but when I run the cell I get a NotImplementedError.
Solution:
The raise NotImplementedError()
are added to the exercise cell as a placeholder for where you're supposed to add your solution/code. It is meant to be removed!
Coming soon.
🎁🎬 Check the tutorial videos if you have any doubts after following this tutorial. These videos were made for the Prep Course of year 2020, so there may be some differences.