CMSE 381 Software Setup Guide#
As this is a course in fundamentals of data science, you will be completing most of your assignments using your computer! However, in order to do so there are a number of things you need to set up before the course starts.
MAKE SURE TO COMPLETE ALL OF THE SECTIONS LISTED IN THIS DOCUMENT BEFORE YOU COME TO CLASS
Getting Zoom#
Although the course will be conducted in person, the video conferencing software Zoom will be used for virtual office hours, so it is critical to have access to this platform. First, you should download the software, which you can do by going here: https://msu.zoom.us/support/download.
Once you have the software on your computer, you can link it to your MSU account by following the steps laid out here
Installing Python for this course#
Follow the instructions below to get the Anaconda distribution of Python installed on your computer. Even if you already have a version of Python installed on your machine, we encourage you to go through this installation process as the assignments will assume that you are working with the same versions of the Anaconda Python packages that the instructors are using. If you already specifically have Anaconda installed, we encourage you to update all of the Python packages (you may need to look up how to do this).
Instructions for downloading Anaconda (Python 3.12.x):#
Go to the Anaconda Download webpage: https://www.anaconda.com/download/ Click “Skip Registration” to skip the providing your email step. Then click the “Download” button.
Make sure you are dowloading the installer for the appropriate operating system (Windows | macOS | Linux) for your computer (it may auto-detect the correct operating system).
Download the Python 3.12 version (64 bit recommended).
Follow the online documentation to install Python for your specific operating system: https://docs.anaconda.com/anaconda/install/
Open the Anaconda Navigator program on your computer.
Select the tile labeled “Jupyter Notebook” and click “Launch.”
If everything goes correctly, a browser window should open up with the Jupyter interface running. If things don’t work, don’t worry, we will help you get started.
MSU’s JupyterHub Interface#
Instructions for connecting to the engineering JupyterHub server:#
Every student enrolled in this class will be given an engineering computing account. If this is your first time using your Engineering account you will need to activate the account by going to the following website:
https://www.egr.msu.edu/decs/myaccount/?page=activate
In the first box enter your NetID (portion of your MSU email before the “@” symbol)
In the second box enter your PID from your MSU ID card making sure to capitalize the letter at the beginning if there is one.
In the last two boxes you may enter and confirm your new engineering account password.
Your account should be activated upon creating a new password and clicking “Activate Account”.
If you have any issues activating your account, please head to our office in the Engineering Building, room 1325. Our hours of operation are posted on our website at https://egr.msu.edu/decs.
Once your account is activated you can access the classroom JupyterHub server using the following instructions:
Open up a web browser and go to the following URL: https://jupyterhub.egr.msu.edu
Type your engineering login name. This will be your MSU NetID.
Type your engineering password.
If everything is working properly you will see the main “Files” windows in the Jupyter interface.
If you ever end up working on your assignments using JupyterHub, the remaining directions should serve as a reference for how you can go about uploading and downloading Jupyter notebooks and turning them in.
Instructions for getting Jupyter notebook files onto JupyterHub:#
Jupyter notebooks are files that end with the .ipynb extension. These files can be found on the class website (https://cmse.msu.edu/cmse381) and downloaded using the Download button in the top right. Be sure to download them in .pynb format!
Once you have an ipynb file you can load it into Jupyter using the “upload” button on the main “Files” tab in the Jupyter web interface. Hitting this button will cause a file browser window to open. Just navigate to your ipynb file, select it and hit the open button.
Once you see your filename in the jupyter window you can just click on that name to start using that file.
Instructions for making a copy of Jupyter notebooks from JupyterHub and turning them in:#
If your notebook needs to be turned in (e.g. Homeworks and Quizzes), you will need to download the ipynb file from the JupyterHub interface.
With the notebook file open in Jupyter, go to the “File” menu, select the “Download as” menu option and then choose “iPython Notebook (.ipynb)”
Pick a place to save the file (The desktop is a good choice).
Make sure you make a copy of the .ipynb file for your own records.