Last updated: June 23, 2024
Note: There will be NO instruction this day. Come ONLY if the following applies to you.
If you do not have a background in Python programming, you may visit the USG campus a day prior to the start of the mini summer immersion experience to receive assistance in setting up your laptop with the proper programming. Please note that the instructions given below should be enough for you to setup your computer but you may decide to come to the campus to get help on Monday, June 24.
Additionally, we will have laptops available for use during this summer experience program should you not have ready access to a personal laptop.
Note: If you DO have a STRONG background in Python programming and some machine learning, then this immersion experience is NOT for you. It is a very introductory program.
To prepare for the Immersion Experience ...
First of all, you need an environment (called IDE or Integrated Development Environment, etc.) to type and execute your code. There are multiple choices. For this immersion experience, the easiest place to start would be Google Colab Notebooks. If you have a Gmail account, you already have access to it.
If you have a Chromebook, it will run on that to as the only thing it needs is the Chrome browser.
Hence Windows, Mac, Linux, Chromebooks, and phones of all types can be used for this immersion experience.
Google Colaboratory is free and requires no setup and is great to start with Python. It has limited storage space and may be slow at times. But it is sufficient for this immersion experience. Check this link and see if it works for you: https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1HEkVymxOvXvE77epZl_D2oQa2KWOrWeD?usp=sharing
If it works, you are all set! You DONT need to come to the campus on Monday's optional day.
Before you leave, you may want to check a short video to make you feel better about Google Colab, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inN8seMm7UI
If Google Colab does not work for you ...
First of all, you need an environment (called IDE or Integrated Development Environment, etc.) to type and execute your code. There are multiple choices. For the purpose of this course, the easiest place to start would be Google Colab Notebooks. If you have a gmail account, you already have access to it.
Google Colaboratory: It is free and requires no setup and is great to start with Python. It has limited storage space and may be slow at times. But it is sufficient for this course. Check this link and see if it works for you: https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1HEkVymxOvXvE77epZl_D2oQa2KWOrWeD?usp=sharing
If it works, you are all set!
If Google Colab does not work, we have some quick alternatives.
Jupyter Online: https://jupyter.org/try-jupyter/notebooks/?path=notebooks/Intro.ipynb
Kaggle Notebooks: https://www.kaggle.com/docs/notebooks . To use them, you must first register via https://www.kaggle.com/
Anaconda: If, and only if, you plan to do a lot of data science stuff in near future, youc and download and install Anaconda. It is a huge package so it will consume a lot disk space but the advantage is that it comes with all the data science packages pre-installed. Not only that, it keeps updating all the libraries automatically so you don't have to do that manually. Download from https://www.anaconda.com/
A Python boot camp was offered at UMBC main campus a few years back and that is a good way to get started on the topic. It has lecture slides and jupyter notebooks to download, https://redirect.cs.umbc.edu/~simsek/PW/
If you want to learn Scientific Python, here is a good complete course: https://lectures.scientific-python.org/