Setting up your Mac for Python and this class¶

Getting The Tools¶

OS-X comes with Python out of the box, but not the full setup you’ll need for development, and this class.

Note:

If you use macports or homebrew to manage *nix software on your machine, feel free to use those for python, git, etc, as well. If not, then read on.

Python¶

While OS-X does provide python our of the box – it tends not to have the latest version, and you really don’t want to mess with the system installation. So I recommend installing an independent installation from python.org:

Download and install Python 2.7.8 from Python.org:

https://www.python.org/ftp/python/2.7.8/python-2.7.8-macosx10.6.dmg

Simple as that.

Terminal¶

The built-in “terminal” application works fine. Find it in:

/Applications/Utilities/Terminal

Drag it to the dock to easy access.

git¶

Get a git client – the gitHub GUI client may be nice – I honestly don’t know.

There are a couple options for a command line client.

This one:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/git-osx-installer/

Is a big download and install, but has everything you need out of the box.

This one:

http://git-scm.com/download/mac

Works great, but you need the XCode command line tools to run it. If you already have that, or expect to need a compiler anyway, then this is a good option.

You can get XCode from the Apple App Store.

(If you try running “git” on the command line after installing, it should send you there).

Warning: XCode is a BIG download. Once installed, run it so it can initialize itself.

After either of these is installed, the git command should work:

$ git --version
git version 1.8.5.2 (Apple Git-48)

pip¶

pip is the Python package installer. Unfortunately, it doesn’t come out of the box with Python2.7, so you need to install it:

https://pip.pypa.io/en/latest/installing.html

download get-pip.py from that site, and run it with python:

$ python get-pip.py

It should download and install pip (and setuptools)

You can now use pip to install other packages.

iPython¶

One we are going to use in class is iPython:

$ pip install ipython

You should now be able to run iPython:

$ ipython
    Python 2.7.8 (v2.7.8:ee879c0ffa11, Jun 29 2014, 21:07:35)
    Type "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.

    IPython 2.0.0 -- An enhanced Interactive Python.
    ?         -> Introduction and overview of IPython's features.
    %quickref -> Quick reference.
    help      -> Python's own help system.
    object?   -> Details about 'object', use 'object??' for extra details.