Instructions for installing python with ipython

Three options for using iPython are Enthought, Anaconda, and Wakari

1. Enthought Distribution

go to http://www.enthought.com/products/canopy
click on "Create Account" (upper right)
after creating account, go to http://www.enthought.com/products/canopy/academic/
click on "Request your academic license" (green rectange)
receive "activate your enthought account" email
set password, log in , go to https://www.enthought.com/downloads/
and download the appropriate version of Canopy for your machine architecture
alternatively if you go directly to https://www.enthought.com/repo/epd/installers/ for modern macs the link to download and install just the epd python is epd-7.3-2-macosx-x86_64.dmg (i.e., the 64 bit version, just use default install settings, takes a few min).
- The direct link is https://www.enthought.com/repo/epd/installers/epd-7.3-2-macosx-x86_64.dmg
- The 32 version needed for older (pre 2005) macs is https://www.enthought.com/repo/epd/installers/epd-7.3-2-macosx-i386.dmg

Once installed:

you can install symbolic links in /usr/local/bin to the python and ipython binaries in the installed source (on my 64bit mac, that's /Library/Frameworks/EPD64.framework/Versions/7.3/bin/ ), or you can just define an alias
terminal based interactive python is then started with "ipython"
terminal based interactive python with access to plotting (via x-windows) is started with "ipython --pylab"
for the ipython notebook demoed in class, use "ipython notebook --pylab inline --script"
Any command-line python scripts just start with a path to the python binary, e.g., #!/usr/local/bin/python (if you have a symbolic link installed)

Important: The default installation needs to be updated to the latest version of python, matplotlib, etc. In the same bin/ directory as above there's a program enpkg that will determine what needs to be updated. Run

> sudo bin/enpkg --whats-new

it will give a list of packages that need to updated. (If it complains

Enstaller is out of date. Update? ([y]/n)

type y, and it'll first update enpkg, then rerun enpkg --whats-new )

Using

sudo bin/enpkg --update-all

is supposed to update everything, but if it complains about dependencies, can also be updated by giving a list

sudo bin/enpkg sympy scipy matplotlib pyzmq ...

Eventually it does update everything, as verified by a final check:

> sudo bin/enpkg --whats-new
Name                 installed            available
============================================================
no new version of any installed package is available

2. Anaconda

Anaconda is another easy-to-install bundle of Python and most of these libraries.
This page (from a course given elsewhere) has instructions to set up the Anaconda python distribution.

3. Wakari

As an alternative to installing on your own computer, it's possible to sign up for free ipython cloud notebooks at www.wakari.io (.5Gb of RAM plus 10Gb of disk space for free accounts). This will get you up and running instantly, though is probably not the most reliable option over the course of the semester.

One Note:

Last year there were questions about functions like 'plot' not working:
NameError: name 'plot' is not defined
If you start iPython from the command-line with
> ipython notebook --pylab inline --script
then the --pylab inline calls in all the necessary matplotlib routines and the 'inline' renders the results of plots in the notebook (rather than external viewer). The wakari notebooks also have this set up by default.

At least one person using Anaconda python under windows was starting up from gui without that option, in which case the command within the ipython window itself:
%pylab inline
will set up the equivalent environment, with matplotlib and numpy modules called in, and with graphics done within the notebook window.