Suggestion for an additional chapter on how to set up the work environment

[ClaireHoffmann]

Hi all!

Many thanks for putting together the course outline, this is really great 😄

I would suggest an additional chapter, perhaps between 1. Introduction and 2. Python Fundamentals, on how to set up the work environment. I think this can be quite challenging for people who are new to programming.

I think the chapter could cover the following aspects:

• What is a package? How to install packages?
• What is a virtual environment? Why using a virtual environment?
• What is an IDE?

[erikaduan]

Hi everyone,

I second this suggestion and also feel that Python environment is a challenging topic for people new to programming. Even I'm confused whether it's better to use conda, pyenv or poetry to manage my Python virtual environments and I would be interested in knowing what other people recommend.

In terms of which IDEs to cover, it may also be useful to know how we envision users accessing these workshops. I.e., are they given instructions to install anaconda (and then access Python via a Jupyter notebook) or do we direct users to another IDE (VS Code) and to install Python separately?

Cheers, Erika