Installing numpy, scipy, matplotlib in Python

Hi,

I’ll try this question out here. I appreciate any takers.

I’ve managed to install Python 2.7 on my Windows 10 system. And I’ve managed to install Python 3.6 with Anaconda, which gives me Jupyter notebook.

I’ve followed Learn to Code the Hard Way reasonably well. I’ve learned how to use Powershell and have been able to follow the Exercises pretty well, using the Atom editor and also calling Python directly through the Powershell command prompt.

I’m trying to take an online class that instructs in use of Python for data science applications. This class uses Jupyter notebook and the Python matplotlib, pandas and scipy libraries. These seem to get called up fine in Jupyter notebook, but when I try to call them up from Powershell - Python3.6 directly, they don’t get found.

I’m frankly a bit overwhelmed, since I’m a beginner at this kind of thing and don’t know my way around windows very well. The Python 2.7 installation seems to have its own folder, which is easily seen in the windows c: directory. But I can’t even find the Pythong 3.6 installation, which may be bundled up with Anaconda.

I’m not sure if I should even worry about this now – the fact I can’t seem to find Python 3.6 and install the numpy, scipy and matplotlib libraries so I can access them directly. But it does frustrate me. They do work in Jupyter notebook. I’ve tried to follow a few YouTube videos, but I honestly get lost and get errors when I try to do what’s in the videos (like creating a .bat file in the Python scripts folder) I don’t even know what that is.

If anyone has a perspective on this, I’d be grateful. If I’m somehow being an idiot here, tell me. I’m not that sensitive to criticism!
Thanks
Mark

Hi @Mark_H. I’m not on Windows, but from what you tell, I think you haven’t installed Python3.6 yet. This is a separate installation besides Python 2.7. You can get it here:

Note: The most recent release is 3.7. This should do it also.

I think you need this one: https://www.python.org/ftp/python/3.7.0/python-3.7.0-amd64.exe

Here you can find a verbose instruction to run (not install) Python under Windows:
https://docs.python.org/3/faq/windows.html

Hope that helps.
Kind regards,
Didier

Hi Didier

I appreciate your quick reply. I’m confident Python 3.6 is installed, since I can access it and use it through the Windows Powershell – per the instructions in Zed’s Learn to Code the Hard Way book. (Great Powershell tutorial by the way!).

I also can see it listed in the vertical column of programs listed in the Start menu (the four squares in the lower left of the Windows screen).

So it’s in there. But I can’t see the folder like I can with the Python 2.7 install. One class I signed up for wants to use 2.7 and the other class wants to use Python3, so I tried to install both.
-Mark

PS - I might add I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere near as far as I have so quickly without Zed’s great book. The online class jumps right into data science stuff, but offers a rapid-fire overview of basic python. I found it incoherent – so put the pause button on everything and found Zed’s book. It really helped set a good foundation. So my progress has been amazing to me, even though I’m still a rank beginner. I know a fair amount of math, so I understand all that, but interacting with windows is bewildering. I was always an “English Major” type. Never delved into windows, even though I got pretty good on the Mac platform in the 1990s when I ran a desktop publishing business. But that was long ago.

If you could only have access to Zed’s videos where he does all kinds of Windows setups… :smiley:
Good news is you actually have access to those, just need to join us in the private part of the forum and get access to all the extra goodies(weekly seminars, getting help directly from Zed, access to the lab repos etc).
Wish I could help you more on this, but I am not a Windows user.
Check it out:
https://learncodethehardway.org/live/

Interesting option. Sounds like it might be very useful, but I’m still flopping around in the baby pool. So not sure I’m quite ready till I wade around a bit more trying to swim,. I don’t know how the hell I did it, but I Googled up something arcane on StackOverflow and after reading it somehow managed to get Jupyter Notebook to run Python 2 and Python 3 kernels. I couldn’t do it again if I had to, though.

Hey @Mark_H so if you have anaconda installed then this should be cake to get working. You might already have all the stuff installed to replicate the jupyter configuration, and if not then they have a tool to get it all up and running. The first thing to go through is this:

https://conda.io/docs/user-guide/install/windows.html

Then, you want to go through all their docs to learn how to use anaconda and their installer tool (conda). I’d start with this:

https://conda.io/docs/user-guide/tasks/manage-conda.html

And go through all those documents in “Tasks”, particularly this:

https://conda.io/docs/user-guide/tasks/manage-pkgs.html

Then once you’ve got a hang of that you just install all the tools you need with that. The key thing you’ll need for this is command line skills, so if you’re not sure how to do that then hit the Command Line Crash Course in appendix A of the book.

thanks Zed. It looks intimidating! But I’ll give it a go.

I carefully did read Appendix A when I began your book last month. It was very helpful indeed for a complete newbie like me.