Course Overview

PLEASE DON’T SKIP

THIS LECTURE
 Complete Python Bootcamp

● Course Overview Lecture

○ Useful tips for going through the course
○ How to get help during the course
○ Advice on how to approach the course
○ Where to find the course notebooks
○ How to use the student chat channel
 Useful Tips

● Use the gear setting to speed up or slow down videos.

● Use the Udemy App to download videos of course
lectures.
● Make sure to make use of QA Forums, lots of
previous discussion available there!
 How to get help

● Double check against course notebooks

● Quick Google or StackOverflow Search
● Search the QA Forums in the course
● Check out FAQ lecture
● Submit new question in QA forums
○ Details on what you’ve tried
○ Screenshot of error or code
 How to get help

● Platform level issues please email:

○ [email protected]
■ Video playback issues
■ Certification issues
■ Payment issues
 How to approach course

● Best way to approach the course is review the

notebooks along with the video
○ Beginners: Read extra notes in the notebook along
with the video guide.
○ Experienced: Read the notebooks to see if you
only need to review certain parts of the video
lecture.
 Course Notebooks

● Check your Automated Welcome message for the link

to the notebooks.
● Later on we will review how to download and open
them Running Python Code lecture.
● Link is also in the FAQ lecture.
 Student Chat Channel

● Use the link in the automated welcome message to

join our discord server.
● The automated welcome message also includes a link
to a YouTube video describing how to use and log in
to the chat server.
 Student Chat Channel

● Remember, purpose of chat channel is to connect

students with other students.
● Technical questions related to course material are best
suited for the QA forums.
THANK YOU!
Python 2 vs Python 3
 Complete Python Bootcamp

● Choosing between Python 2 vs 3 used to be a very

difficult decision for newcomers to the Python
programming language.
● Many companies still had legacy Python 2 code to be
maintained.
 Complete Python Bootcamp

● This course was initially released teaching both

versions of Python (2 and 3).
● The versions were similar enough that it was easy to
learn both simultaneously.
● Now every major external python package has been
updated to support Python 3!
 Complete Python Bootcamp

● This course now focuses solely on Python 3.

● All the code, notebooks, and videos have been
updated to Python 3.
● If need be, going back to Python 2 syntax is a very
easy jump once you know Python 3.
 Complete Python Bootcamp

● Python 3 is the future of Python.

● We use Python 3 for this course.
● Old notebooks are available in case you need Python
2 information.
● Let’s get started by installing Python 3!
Command Line
Crash Course
 Complete Python Bootcamp

● Before we install anything, its important to have a

very quick overview of how to work at the command
line.
● This allows you to programmatically move through
your computer’s directories.
 Complete Python Bootcamp

● We will cover:
○ Find your current directory
○ Listing all files in a directory
○ How to change directory
○ How to clear the command line screen
 Complete Python Bootcamp

● MacOS and Linux Users

Jump to:

● Windows Users
Jump to:
Python Overview
 Complete Python Bootcamp

● In this lecture we will do a brief overview of what

Python is, why choose Python for programming, and
what you can do with Python.
● This lecture in particular is geared towards people
new to programming.
 Complete Python Bootcamp

● Brief History of Python

○ Created in 1990 by Guido van
Rossum
○ Python 3 released in 2008
 Complete Python Bootcamp

● Brief History of Python

○ Specifically designed as an
easy to use language
○ High focus on readability of
code
 Complete Python Bootcamp

● Why Choose Python?

○ Designed for clear, logical code that is easy to read
and learn.
○ Lots of existing libraries and frameworks written
in Python allowing users to apply Python to a wide
variety of tasks.
 Complete Python Bootcamp

● Why Choose Python?

○ Focuses on optimizing developer time, rather than
a computer’s processing time.
○ Great documentation online:
■ docs.python.org/3
 Complete Python Bootcamp

● What can you do with Python?

○ This course first focuses on “base” Python, which
consists of the core components of the language
and writing scripts and small programs.
○ Later we begin to learn about outside libraries and
frameworks that greatly expand Python’s
capabilities.
 Complete Python Bootcamp

● What can you do with Python?

○ Automate simple tasks
■ Searching for files and editing them
■ Scraping information from a website
■ Reading and editing excel files
■ Work with PDFs
■ Automate emails and text messages
■ Fill out forms
 Complete Python Bootcamp

● What can you do with Python?

○ Data Science and Machine Learning
■ Analyze large data files
■ Create visualizations
■ Perform machine learning tasks
■ Create and run predictive algorithms
 Complete Python Bootcamp

● What can you do with Python?

○ Create websites
■ Use web frameworks such as Django and Flask
to handle the backend of a website and user
data
■ Create interactive dashboards for users
 Complete Python Bootcamp

● Once you understand base Python and begin working

with a few libraries, you’ll quickly begin to see the
vast potential Python has for your own projects!
● Let’s get started with setting you up for the course!
 Windows
Command Line
MacOS and Linux
Command Line
Installing Python
 Complete Python Bootcamp

● There are many ways to run Python!

● Later on we’ll explore the difference between running
a Python .py script or running Python code in a
notebook environment.
○ Either way, we will still want to install Python!
 Complete Python Bootcamp

● Installation Lecture:
○ Install Anaconda Distribution for Python.
■ Anaconda installs Python and an easy to use
development environment and navigator launch
tool.
○ Briefly run Jupyter Notebook.
○ Explore “no install” online options.
 Complete Python Bootcamp

● Quick Note:
○ There are now many online “no install” Python
environments that can run in the browser (as long
as you have an internet connection).
○ While not officially part of the course, we will give
you a brief tour of these online “no install” options
at the end.
 Complete Python Bootcamp

● To install Python we will use the free Individual

Anaconda distribution.
● This distribution includes Python as well as many
other useful libraries, including Jupyter Notebook
environment.
● Anaconda can also easily be installed on to any major
OS, Windows, MacOS, or Linux.
Complete Python Bootcamp

www.anaconda.com/downloads
 Complete Python Bootcamp

● Free “No Install” Options:

○ jupyter.org/try
○ Google Collab Online Notebooks
○ Repl.it
■ Google Search:
● “Python Interpreter Online”
 Complete Python Bootcamp

● Free “No Install” Options:

○ Hard to upload your own code,data, or notebooks!
○ May not save your code in the free version!
○ Not officially part of this course or supported by
this course!
Running Python Code
 Complete Python Bootcamp

● There are several ways to run Python code.

● First let’s discuss the various options for development
environments
● There are 3 main types of environments:
○ Text Editors
○ Full IDEs
○ Notebook Environments
 Complete Python Bootcamp

● Text Editors
○ General editors for any text file
○ Work with a variety of file types
○ Can be customized with plugins and add-ons
○ Keep in mind, most are not designed with only
Python in mind.
Most popular: Sublime Text and Atom
 Complete Python Bootcamp

● Full IDEs
○ Development Environments designed specifically
for Python.
○ Larger programs.
○ Only community editions are free.
○ Designed specifically for Python, lots of extra
functionality.
Most popular: PyCharm and Spyder
 Complete Python Bootcamp

● Notebook Environments
○ Great for learning.
○ See input and output next to each other.
○ Support in-line markdown notes, visualizations,
videos, and more.
○ Special file formats that are not .py

Most popular is Jupyter Notebook.

 Complete Python Bootcamp

● Most important note:

○ Development Environments are a personal choice
highly dependent on personal preference.

Choose whichever development environment you

prefer!
 Complete Python Bootcamp

● Let’s now explore how to run Python code:

○ First with an editor to create a .py script and run
the file at your command line.
○ Then with a Jupyter Notebook.

First let’s download sublime text editor:

www.sublimetext.com
Course Notebooks
 Complete Python Bootcamp

Let’s show you how to get the course notebooks!

Go to the resource link:

https://github.com/Pierian-Data/Complete-Python-3-Bootcamp