How to prepare for this workshop

Hardware and Software Requirements

The course requires a laptop (not a tablet or chromebook), and you must have the following pieces of software installed on it.

• Docker. Docker is a virtual machine tool that is used in the workshop. Installation instructions for all major operating systems can be found here.
• A Unix Shell/Terminal. Window’s command prompt/CMD.EXE will not suffice. See these instructions for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
• Git. See these instructions for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Skill Required

Primarily, you must be comfortable with basic Python. Advanced knowledge is not required, but at a minimum students should be comfortable with Python syntax and familiar with the NumPy library and the Pandas library.

If you are comfortable with Python but are not familiar with NumPy and Pandas, then the Programming with Python and Plotting and Programming with Python lessons are good introductions to NumPy and Pandas, respectively, from the ground up (i.e., very little Python knowledge is assumed). For a more advanced tutorial, we recommend the Python Data Science Handbook.

If you are just starting out with Python, then we recommend the Software Carpentry lessons linked above. If you plan to attend the A.I. ABCs, then a good grasp of these lessons is sufficient to follow along for the first two days of the lesson; the second and third days of the lesson use slightly more sophisticated programming patterns and cover more code, so we recommend some additional practice beyond just the Software Carpentry lessons.

The course also uses a small amount of git and Docker to coordinate the lessons. Familiarity with these tools isn’t critical to the lesson, but the Software Carpentry lesson on git and the Software Carpentry Incubator Lesson on Docker are good places to start if you are interested in learning more about them.