This is the mandatory pre-work for Code 401: Python that counts as 5 full coding assignments (effectively a week's worth of work). When this course nears its start date, you will be invited to an online portal named Canvas where you can confirm that you've completed this prework and claim credit.
Start on the pre-work as soon as you can and be sure to allow yourself plenty of time to complete it. Allow yourself more time than you think you will need so that you can take breaks and not get overwhelmed.
- Setup your computer with Terminal, Git, GitHub, and Slack
- Verify that you have Homebrew installed on your computer (if you have a Mac). If you're on Linux, you'll do similar stuff with
apt-get. Ensure that you have root access.
- Download and Install Homebrew
- If you are using a Windows machine, figure out a way to safely partition your computer and boot a good Linux distribution like Ubuntu 14.04 or 16.04
- Verify that you have Python versions 2.7 and 3.6 installed on your computer. It'd be nice to have Python 3.5 installed as well, but if you do install it yourself install it before installing Python 3.6.
- To check if you have Python at all, type
which python. If you have it, your terminal will return something like/usr/local/bin/python. - To check which version(s) of Python you have, type
python --versionandpython3 --version. - 3.6 was just released 12/23/2016, so many computers won't have it by default. Check Python downloads for information on how to get different versions of Python. Note that installing Python 3.6 WILL redirect your
python3shell command (if you have it) to point to Python 3.6.
- Ensure that you have Python
pipfor both 2.7 and 3+.
- In a terminal window type
which pip. If you've got pip, your terminal should output text like this (but not identical to it)/usr/local/bin/pip - Download and install here if you don't get anything back.
Having a level of comfort with the basic skills you’ll be using every day is vital to your success.
From the pre-work assignments below, please select the area in which you are the weakest. Begin by working on that. Once you have spent at least 10 hours on that area, select your next weakest area and move on to that.
You do not need to do a lot of work every day. One hour is enough, though just. The key is to work every single day. Do not let a day go by without spending your time practicing.