Python for Business Analytics

Python is a powerful, general purpose programming language that can be used for many
applications ranging from short scripts to enterprise applications. There is a large and growing
number of free, open-source libraries and tools for scientific computing. For more information
about Python and its use visit python.org.

Install Python
There are many ways of using and developing with Python. However, for this course, we will be
using Jupyter notebooks, an interactive, browser-based Python interface available through the
Anaconda Distribution which is particularly useful for scientific computing. We will be using
Python 3.x in this course. While Python 2.x is still available, it is no longer actively developed
and many library providers will stop supporting it or
Here is what you need to do:
● Download the Anaconda installer for Python 3.6 or later from
https://www.anaconda.com/download/ for your operating system (you will be asked for
your email, however this step is optional and you can proceed without providing it)
● Execute the installer
o macOS: double-click on the pkg file and follow the instructions using the default
settings
o Windows: run the exe file and follow the instructions using default settings
o Anaconda now includes Microsoft Visual Studio Code and you will
be asked if you want to install it. This code editor is not required
for the course
● Once the application is installed, you can execute Anaconda Navigator
from the Start Menu (Windows) and the Application folder (macOS)
If you don’t want to use Anaconda, you will find installation instructions for Windows 10 at the
end of this document.

Anaconda Navigator – update and install packages

You can use Anaconda Navigator to manage your Python installation and run the Jupyter
application.
Use the Environments tab to add packages to your Python installation.

Peter Gedeck
Data Mining for Business Analytic - Getting Started with Python

Click the [Update index…] button to refresh the package list. From time to time, it may ask you
to update the Anaconda Navigator application. It’s good practice to update regularly.
If new versions become available,
you will see that the version
number changes. The version
number of updatable packages are
highlighted in blue and with a
This means that you can update the
specific package. Change the pull-
down menu to [Updatable] and click the green tick mark to select
[Mark for update]. Do that for all the packages you want to
update, select [Apply] and confirm the update.

Once you initiated the update, use the [Clear] button to remove the marking. Anaconda
Navigator otherwise will indicate that it is busy when you want to close the application.

Peter Gedeck
Data Mining for Business Analytic - Getting Started with Python

Updates are done in the background and will take some time and may require confirmation.
There is no feedback that an update is finished. You will need to refresh the list using [Update
index…] to see the progress.
You will not need to update all packages, however update at least the following packages
required for the course:
● Python: the Python interpreter
● Matplotlib: Python 2D plotting library (https://matplotlib.org/)
● networkx: Python package for creating and manipulating complex networks
(https://networkx.github.io/)
● NumPy: fundamental package for scientific computing with Python
(https://www.numpy.org/)
● Pandas: high-performance, easy-to-use data structures and data analysis tools
(https://pandas.pydata.org/)
● scikit-learn: machine learning in Python (http://scikit-learn.org/)
● seaborn: statistical data visualization (https://seaborn.pydata.org/)
● statsmodels: implementation of different statistical models and tests
(https://www.statsmodels.org/)
Install the following:
● cartopy: a library providing cartographic tools for Python
(http://scitools.org.uk/cartopy/). Only required if you want to run all examples from the
book
● graphviz: Application to visualize graphs (https://www.graphviz.org/) 1
● python-graphviz: Python interface for graphviz
(https://graphviz.readthedocs.io/en/stable/)
● pydotplus: Python interface to graphviz’s dot languge. Required to visualize decision
trees (http://pydotplus.readthedocs.io/)
● gmaps: Python interface to Google maps. See appendix for details about installing this
package (https://github.com/pbugnion/gmaps)
● nltk: Natural language processing toolkit. Required for more advanced text mining
applications (https://www.nltk.org/)
● mlxtend: machine learning library that provides access to association rules mining
algorithms (https://github.com/rasbt/mlxtend)
● scikit-surprise: a library for recommender systems (http://surpriselib.com/)
● squarify: algorithm to layout tree map visualizations
(https://github.com/laserson/squarify)
● twython: pure Python wrapper for the Twitter API. Supports both normal and streaming
Twitter APIs (https://twython.readthedocs.io/en/latest/)
To install a package, change the pull down to [Not installed] and enter e.g. matplotlib in the
[Search packages] field. Click on the rectangle to select the package for download and use the
[Apply] button to start the installation.

1 On Windows, you will need to include the graphviz executable in your path variable, e.g. C:\
Anaconda3\Library\bin\graphviz

Peter Gedeck
Data Mining for Business Analytic - Getting Started with Python

Once the library is installed, it will be listed under the installed packages.
You can also install a library from the command line, which may be faster, by using the
command
conda install packagename
In some cases, you will need to specify a special channel, e.g.
conda install -c conda-forge scikit-surprise
The gmaps and scikit-surprise Python package
are available from the conda-forge channel. You
can add the conda-forge channel to Anaconda
Navigator.
In the Environments tab of Anaconda Navigator,
click the [Channels] button and add the conda-
forge channel. Close the dialog using [Update
channels].
After [Update index…] the gmaps and scikit-
surprise packages are available for installation.

Installing dmba
The package dmba (https://pypi.org/project/dmba/) provides a number of utility functions that
are used throughout the book. It is available through PyPI, the Python package index, and can be
installed using the command

pip install dmba

on the command line.

You can also install packages from a Jupyter notebook using the following commands. You will
only need to do this once.

# Install a pip package in the current Jupyter kernel

import sys
!{sys.executable} -m pip install dmba

Peter Gedeck
Data Mining for Business Analytic - Getting Started with Python

Anaconda Navigator – Launch Python in a Jupyter

Notebook
We recommend that you use Jupyter notebooks for the exercises. The
Jupyter notebook is a web-based computing environment that runs on
your computer and embeds Python code and output together with
comments and graphics in one readable document. In the last years,
this has become a popular way for interactive data analysis in the data
science community.
Select the Home tab in the Anaconda Navigator and Launch Jupyter
notebook. The notebook is launched inside your usual web browser. The supported browsers are
Chrome, Safari, or Firefox. An up-to-date version of Edge may also work; if not, use one of the
supported browsers.
The Jupyter notebook application opens a file manager page which allows you to browse to your
working directory. You can also create new folders [New/Folder] and text files [New/Text File]
here.

To rename a file or folder select it and use [Rename] to change the name.

Create a folder to keep your work for the course and navigate into the folder. Next use
[New/Python 3] to create a new notebook which opens in a separate tab or window.

Jupyter notebook
This is what an empty notebook looks like.

Peter Gedeck
Data Mining for Business Analytic - Getting Started with Python

Click on Untitled and replace it with as more meaningful title.

You can enter Python code in the code boxes and execute it using the [Run] button.

The output and result of the last statement in each code box is printed underneath each block.
Jupyter notebooks regularly saves your work automatically. If you want to trigger the save
manually, use the [🖫] button, the [File|Save and Checkpoint] menu or the [Ctrl/Cmd-S] key.
If you find an error in your code, you can modify it and rerun the code. From time to time, you
may want to rerun the whole code in your notebook; use the menu [Kernel/Restart & Run All]
for this.

Peter Gedeck
Data Mining for Business Analytic - Getting Started with Python

Python installation on Windows 10 without Anaconda

1. Install Python
a. Download the latest Python 3 release from https://www.python.org/. Choose
either the web-based installer or the executable installer.
b. Run the installer. Select the option to Add Python 3.x to PATH.

2. Install Python packages using pip

a. Open a Command Prompt window

b. Enter the following command:

pip install numpy
This will start download and installation of the package.
c. Install remaining packages:
pip install jupyter
pip install matplotlib
pip install pandas
pip install networkx
pip install scikit-learn
pip install seaborn
pip install statsmodels
pip install gmaps
pip install nltk
pip install mlxtend

Peter Gedeck
Data Mining for Business Analytic - Getting Started with Python

pip install squarify

pip install dmba

d. The network visualizations require an installation of graphviz. Download and

install from https://graphviz.gitlab.io/
Add the install directory to the PATH (c:\Program Files (x86)\Graphviz2.38\bin)
pip install graphviz
pip install pydotplus
e. The cartopy package requires installation of additional applications. If you want
to use it, we recommend that you use Anaconda.
f. The scikit-surprise package requires a C++ compiler. Download and install Visual
Studio from https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/downloads/
pip install scikit-surprise

Peter Gedeck