[OS X TeX] [OFF-TOPIC] python (Doris Behrendt)

[David Goldenberg]

Just a few more comments on this off-topic topic:

1. I agree that installing Anaconda is a great way to have a full Python installation with lots of trimmings. Think of it as TexLive for Python. One of the best things that Anaconda includes is the Jupyter browser-based notebook. It’s great for learning and interactive work.

2. The is clash between MacOS Mojave and Python versions later than 3.7.0, at least with the version installed with Anaconda. This breaks any of the Python features that use TKinter, including the IDLE development environment and the turtles module, for turtle graphics.  My understanding is that the clash is fixed in Catalina, but I haven’t tested it myself. 

For Mojave, the last version Anaconda that seems to play well with Mojave is:
Anaconda3-5.3.1-MacOSX-x86 64.pkg
You can find an archive of all of the Anaconda installers at:
https://repo.anaconda.com/archive/

3. For a great introduction to Python and programming, I highly recommed:
Downey, A. (2017). Think Python: How to Think Like a Computer Scientist. O’Reilly, 2nd edition. http://greenteapress.com/wp/think-python-2e/

This is a short well-written book with very good exercises. It is available as both an O’Reilly paperback (on the expensive side) or as a free (as in beer) pdf! 

David Goldenberg
--
School of Biological Sciences
University of Utah
257 South 1400 East
Salt Lake City, UT  84112-0840

Telephone: (801) 581-3885
Fax:  (801) 581-2174

E-mail: goldenberg at biology.utah.edu
Web page: http://goldenberg.biology.utah.edu

> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Message: 1
> Date: Wed, 21 Oct 2020 20:11:33 +0100
> From: Luis Sequeira <lfsequeira at gmail.com>
> To: TeX on Mac OS X Mailing List <MacOSX-TeX at email.esm.psu.edu>
> Subject: Re: [OS X TeX] [OFF-TOPIC] python
> Message-ID: <D5159A06-EC7C-48C9-86BC-36DE93483547 at gmail.com>
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> 
> A big +1 on the Anaconda distribution.
> 
> Completely separate from the old python 2.7 that still ships with Catalina.
> 
> Not only it includes most of the packages that you may want to use, like numpy, scipy, sympy, pandas, etc - and you can easily install any others with conda - but it also includes Jupyter Notebook, and a full Python IDE, Spyder, and more (even R Studio, if that is your cup of tea).
> 
> Also, it is easy to create separate python environments, so if you want you can test stuff in python 3.8 or 3.9, or run old packages with python 3.5, say, all very seamlessly.
> 
> LS
> 
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