Lesson 2: Data Handling with Python

Install Python

Python and the necessary libraries is already installed on all ANU information commons computers. If you want to do this pre-lab at home, you will need to install the software on your computer. Installation instructions are given in the reference guide below.

Reference Guide for Python Data Handling

Reference links

Run Python

If you have programmed before, particularly in Python, you may want to skip directly to the third video.

Video 1: Introduction to Python Programming

This video was made using the older "Enthough Python Distribution". Using the more modern "Enthought Canopy", just start up the canopy program, click on "Editor" and "Create new file".

Video 2: Reloading a program and finding bugs in it.

Video 3: Loading the pylab packages and plotting some data

This video shows you how to load the pylab package and use it to plot some data. Note that in Canopy, you set the working directory as described in the python reference notes above - otherwise it won't find the data.

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