Computer Setup

File browser

The terminal is sometimes referred to as a command line interface (CLI).
Mac: Terminal appliciation is already installed, but Ghostty is better.
Windows:
- Install Windows Subsystem for Linux (Ubuntu)
  - Youtube video
- Start menu –> search Ubuntu. This will open a terminal in Ubuntu.
- Your C: drive is in /mnt/c. You can go there with cd /mnt/c and hit enter.

The shell is the underlying program in your terminal that processes commands you type, like ls, cd, mv, etc. You can choose different shells: zsh, bash, fish, etc.
Mac: zsh is the default on mac and is a good choice.
You can configure your shell (optional) by creating/editing a file called .zshrc in your home directory.
Windows: the default shell is bash.
- change the shell to zsh by running:
  - sudo apt install zsh
  - chsh -s $(which zsh)
You can configure your shell (optional) by creating/editing a file called .zshrc in your home directory.
- Here is a link to some .zshrc settings you can paste in your .zshrc file.
- Note, the leading “.” in the file name indicates it is a hidden file.

Install Anaconda (sign up for a free account)
- You can install in the default location.
- Anaconda includes Python, all the needed packages, like numpy, scipy, matplotlib, etc., and development environments like Jupyter and Spyder.
Once installed, run the Anaconda Navigator to open tools (like Jupyter)

We will be writing our Python codes using Jupyter notebook files, which have names like homework.ipynb with the .ipynb extension.
- Notebook files can be edited in Jupyter Notebook, Jupyter Lab, or VSCode, among others.
- We’ll be using VSCode. (Install it if it isn’t already in Anaconda Navigator.
Open VSCode, create a new file, and choose Jupyter Notebook as the file type.
- Install the Python extension (for Jupyter notebooks) when prompted (should only happen the first time).
- Select an anaconda python kernel when prompted when running a cell, or from the dropdown box; something like base (Python 3.14.6) /opt/anaconda3/bin/python or ~/anaconda3/python.exe

To use the free copilot AI tool in VSCode, you’ll need a Github account, so create one.
Github is used to store code projects for collaboration with others. It stores git repositories for tracking changes and keeping things sync’d up when working with multiple people (or just you) on the same code.

You can install specialized software for use in the terminal using a package manager
Mac: conda or homebrew
- Most programs can be installed with conda, which comes with Anaconda.
  - to install yazi (a file browser), run conda install -y -c conda-forge yazi
- Homebrew can install most programs. Install at the given link, then,
  - to install yazi: run brew install yazi
Windows:
- In the Ubuntu terminal, run sudo apt install someProgram
  - sudo gives administrative privileges
  - You might have to enable a specific repository.