Getting started with python for data analysis

Golden rule: Just try things and Google it if you get stuck!

Installation

Use anaconda to begin with.

Running IPython

On Windows use the git console. On Mac/Linux use the Terminal program.

To run ipython open up a console and run this command

ipython qtconsole

IPython qtconsole is an interactive shell for python just like the R Gui that adds some additional functionality for interactive analsis. Here is a good tutorial for ipython.

Python Basics

http://docs.python.org/2/tutorial/introduction.html

Gotchas

• Python 2 vs. 3
• Be careful with integers and strings, they behave differently than R!
• Modules (aka packages)

Pandas

import pandas as pd
df = pd.read_csv('http://bechtel.colorado.edu/~bracken/sample_data.csv')

Running a script in python

run my_script.py

Ready go!

These are all the tools you will need to get started. Refer to the Golden Rule and have fun!

Other things to know about if you want to dive deeper

• ipython notebook
• numpy
• scypy
• matplotlib
• Rpy2
• virtualenv