Select "Use Git and optional Unix tools from the Command Prompt" and click
on "Next".
Click on "Next".
Click on "Next".
Keep "Checkout Windows-style, commit Unix-style line endings" selected.
Select "Use Windows' default console window" and click on "Next".
Click on "Next".
Click on "Install".
This will provide you with both Git and Bash in the Git Bash program.
macOS
You access Bash from the Terminal
(found in
/Applications/Utilities). You may want to keep
Terminal in your dock for this class.
Recent versions of macOS (starting with Catalina 10.15) ship
with zsh as the default shell but also have Bash installed.
You can either type
bash in the terminal to switch to Bash or change
permanently to Bash by executing the following command in
the terminal:
chsh -s /bin/bash
(and enter your password when asked).
In earlier versions, the default shell is Bash, so no
need to install or change anything.
Linux
The default shell is usually Bash, but if your
machine is set up differently you can run it by opening a
terminal and typing bash. There is no need to
install anything.
Git
Git is a version control system that lets you track who made changes
to what when and has options for easily updating a shared or public
version of your code
on github.com. You will need a
supported
web browser (current versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari,
Microsoft Edge, or Internet Explorer version 11 or above).
Windows
Git should be installed on your computer as part of your Bash
install (described above).
macOS
For macOS/Mac OS X 10.9 and higher, install Git for Mac
by downloading and running the most recent "mavericks" installer from
this list.
After installing Git, there will not be anything in your /Applications folder,
as Git is a command line program.
For older versions of OS X (10.5-10.8) use the
most recent available installer labelled "snow-leopard"
available here.
Linux
If Git is not already available on your machine you can try to
install it via your distro's package manager. For Debian/Ubuntu run
sudo apt-get install git and for Fedora run
sudo yum install git.
Text Editor
When you're writing code, it's nice to have a text editor that is
optimized for writing code, with features like automatic
color-coding of key words. The default text editor on macOS and
Linux is usually set to Vim, which is not famous for being
intuitive. if you accidentally find yourself stuck in it, try
typing the escape key, followed by :q! (colon, lower-case 'q',
exclamation mark), then hitting Return to return to the shell.
For this class we will use atom as
the default editor. It is free, open source, available on Windows,
macOS, and Linux, powerful but also accessible for entry-level
programmers.
Windows
atom is a good editor that is
suitable for professional coding but also accessible to
newcomers with is graphical user interface.
To install it,
download a suitable installer from atom.io
and double click on the file to run it. (If you cannot find an
appropriate installer, look for a file "AtomSetup-x64.exe" or
"AtomSetup.exe" in the list of
latest releases.)
For more details see Installing atom on Windows.
Others editors that you can use are
Notepad++ or
Sublime Text.
Be aware that you must
add its installation directory to your system path.
Please ask your instructor to help you do this.
Windows (on ASU laptop without superuser
privileges)
On the ASU school laptops, atom should pre-installed
and you can use. Launch the editor from the Start Menu.
macOS
We recommend atom as a good editor that is
suitable for professional coding but also accessible to
newcomers with is graphical user interface.
To install it,
download a suitable installation zip file from atom.io
and double click on the file to unpack it. Open your
Applications directory from the Finder in the Go menu. Drag the unpacked
Atom application to your Applications directory. (If you cannot find an
appropriate installer, look for a file "atom-mac.zip" or
in the list of
latest releases.) For more details see Installing atom on Mac.
Alternatively, nano is a basic editor.
It should be pre-installed.
We recommend atom as a good editor that is
suitable for professional coding but also accessible to
newcomers with is graphical user interface.
Please follow the instructions on Installing
atom on Linux and ask an instructor for help if anything
is unclear.
Alternatively, nano is a basic editor.
It should be pre-installed.
Python is a popular language for
scientific computing, and great for general-purpose programming as
well. Installing all of its scientific packages individually can be
a bit difficult, so we recommend
Anaconda,
an all-in-one installer.
Regardless of how you choose to install it,
please make sure you install Python version 3.x
(e.g., 3.6 or 3.8 is fine).
We will teach Python using the Jupyter notebook, a programming environment
that runs in a web browser. For this to work you will need a reasonably
up-to-date browser. The current versions of the Chrome, Safari and
Firefox browsers should all be supported
(some older browsers, including Internet Explorer version 9
and below, are not).
Download the Python 3 64-Bit installer for Windows.
Install Python 3 using all of the defaults for installation except make sure to check Make Anaconda the default Python.
Windows (on ASU laptops without
sysadmin and existing outdated system anaconda)
If you are stuck with a laptop where you can only install as
a user and there is already a system-wide anaconda installation
present that you do not want to used then you will need to install your own anaconda and make
sure that it is being used.
Install Python 3 using all of the defaults for
installation except make sure to check Make
Anaconda the default Python and set the destination folder to C:\ProgramData\Anaconda3.
Open the Git-Bash command line
Append (>>) to the file $HOME/.bash_profile the following content by typing
cat >> $HOME/.bash_profile << 'EOF'
# PHY494 bash startup for local Anaconda
MYCONDA="/c/ProgramData/Anaconda3"
export PATH="$MYCONDA:$MYCONDA/Scripts:$MYCONDA/libs/bin:$PATH"
unset MYCONDA
EOF
This will instruct Bash to look for your conda installation
before anything else.
Close the Git-Bash window.
Open a new Git-Bash window and type conda init bash (so that your conda can work under bash).
Close current Git-Bash window and open a new one to let all settings take effect.
If you still have problems running conda/python on windows, please visit: trouble shooting.
Download the Python 3 installer for Linux. (Most likely the 64-Bit (x86) Installer is correct for your laptop.)
Install Python 3 using all of the defaults for installation.
(Installation requires using the shell. If you aren't
comfortable doing the installation yourself
stop here and request help.)
Open a terminal window.
Type
bash ./Anaconda-
and then press
tab. The name of the file you just downloaded should
appear.
Press enter. You will follow the text-only prompts. When
there is a colon at the bottom of the screen press the down
arrow to move down through the text. Type yes and
press enter to approve the license. Press enter to approve the
default location for the files. Type yes and
press enter to prepend Anaconda to your PATH
(this makes the Anaconda distribution the default Python).
Testing
Bash shell
Open a terminal (macOS, Linux) or open Git Bash (under
All Programs/Git/Git Bash) in Windows.
Type
echo$SHELL
Should show /bin/bash or /usr/bin/bash (or similar).
We use "shell" and "terminal" (and "console") pretty much
interchangeably.
Git
In the shell, type
git --version
which should show something like git version 2.7.0.
editor (atom)
(If you don't have atom but some other editor such as Sublime Text
check the section on Editor under
Windows (ASU) and ask an instructor for help.)
First time
Open atom using your GUI
Windows: from the start menu
macOS: from the Application folder
Linux: varies (but you might be able to skip to "From the shell"
A window should open showing the atom logo and welcome screen, similar
to
If it tries to install additional commands (atom and apm) then let
it do it and provide your system administrator password if required.
Then exit the editor again (Quit from the menu or close the
window).
From the shell
In the shell, type
atom
It should open the editor. Exit the editor.
If this does not work then you need to let atom install additional
commands. The Atom menu bar has a command named "Install Shell
Commands" which installs the atom and apm commands, as described
under Opening a
File
(and provide your system administrator password if requested). Then
add the atom directory to your bash start file manually as described
under Wiki:start atom from the git-bash
commandline.)
Python
In the shell, type
python -c'import sys; print(sys.version)'
which should give something similar to Python 3.8.5 (default, Sep 4 2018, 07:30:14) (and more
stuff). Important:
you should have Python 3, i.e., a version like 3.6.x or 3.8.x
Also try
which conda
which python
which should give something similar to /homes/USERNAME/anaconda3/bin/conda, /homes/USERNAME/anaconda3/bin/python
On macOS, if you get the error OSError: [Errno 49] Can't assign
requested address you might need to use jupyter notebook
--ip=127.0.0.1
Wrong conda is used. Check which conda in the terminal: it
should show a path in your home directory (e.g., for user "physics":
Windows: /c/Users/Physics/Anaconda3/conda, macOS:
/Users/physics/Anaconda3/conda, Linux:
/home/physics/Anaconda3/conda). Try exiting the terminal and open
a new terminal (or git bash) and try again. Changes to PATH only
take effect when a new shell is opened.
