For the boot camp, you'll need both the Python core system and other important packages. You should also install the versioning software called GIT. Last, we'll ask you to download a tarball with examples from class so you can run them on your own. We'll post that tarball later but for now, you should try to get things going with the other installations (instructions below).
Python is a cross-platform programming language so it should work, in principle, the same on any operating system you run a python script within. However, one of the few major drawbacks of Python is that it's not always super easy to install the base code in addition to other major packages. This is particularly true on obscur or outdated operating systems. That said, there are a number of very good, reasonably up-to-date standalone installations that should just work out of the box. If these do not work for you, let us know!
Mac OS X
2. Click on checkbox below the blue Apple icon and fill in your contact information:
3. Click "Download" and wait for the ~260 MB .dmg (disk image) file to be downloaded. You should make sure that you have about 500MB free on your harddrive (at bare minimum). You should be installing the EPD7.3-2 or later version of the distribution. We advise you to install the 32bit version, not the 64bit since many dependancies are not built into the x86_64 version.
4. The disk image should mount automatically and then pop up a small finder window. In that, you'll click on EPD.mpkg to start the installation.
5. Follow the instructions in the installation program. You'll be notified that the installation has been completed. Quit the installation program when it's all done.
Windows
2. Click on checkbox below the colorful Windows icon and fill in your contact information.
3. After the download, you will be prompted to Run the installation page:
4. Install for all users:
5. Click on the "academic" installation button and install whereever you want the package (the default is just fine):
Linux distributions:
1. A: Either follow the EPD instructions as above for RedHat/Fedora, Debian, or SUSE
-- or --
Install Git
Git is a versioning program which helps you keep track of versions of code that you write and also allows you to write code collaboratively with others. Most open source projects use git or something like this. Git is the latest in a long line of versioning code, from RCS, CVS, and SVN heritage.
Mac OSX
There are a bunch of ways to install git and gitk.
This site gives you the options from easiest to hardest.
Here's what you do in the easy method. You can get the latest
dmg (disk image) file here which should open after it downloads. Click on the mpkg file:
and then follow the instructions for installation. This will install git at /usr/local/git/bin/git
and gitk at /usr/local/git/bin/gitk. To use these, either add /usr/local/git/bin to your PATH or run those directly from the command line.
Windows
Keep all the defaults as you are presented choices.
When you fire up git for the first time you should see a window like:
Linux:
