Data Carpentry Workshop Setup Instructions

Requirements: Data Carpentry's teaching is hands-on, so participants are encouraged to bring in and use their own laptops to insure the proper setup of tools for an efficient workflow once you leave the workshop. (We will provide instructions on setting up the required software several days in advance) There are no pre-requisites, and we will assume no prior knowledge about the tools.

Contact: Please email admin@datacarpentry.org for questions and information not covered here.

Setup

To participate in a Data Carpentry workshop, you will need working copies of the software described below. Please make sure to install everything and try opening it to make sure it works before the start of your workshop. If you run into any problems, please feel free to email the instructor or arrive early to your workshop on the first day. Participants should bring and use their own laptops to insure the proper setup of tools for an efficient workflow once you leave the workshop.

This workshop will be using the software outlined in the install instructions below. Please see the section for your operating system for those directions.

Windows

Please go through all the installation steps below and make sure that you not only installed them, but start them up to make sure they're working. If you have any problems, don't hesitate to email the instructors to ask for help, or arrive early on the first day of the workshop to get help.

  1. A spreadsheet program
    For this workshop you will need a spreadsheet program. Many people already have Microsoft Excel installed, and if you do, you're set!
    If you need a spreadsheet program, there are a few other options, like OpenOffice and LibreOffice. Install instructions for LibreOffice, which is free and open source, are here.
    • Download the Installer
      Install LibreOffice by going to the installation page. The version for Windows should automatically be selected. Click on the button below "Main Installer" Download Version x.y.z. You will go to a page that asks about a donation, but you don't need to make one. Your download should begin automatically.
    • Install LibreOffice
      Once the installer is downloaded, double click on it and it should install.
    • To use LibreOffice, double click on the icon and it will open.

  2. OpenRefine
    OpenRefine (previously Google Refine) is a tool for data cleaning that runs through a web browser, and any browser - Safari, Firefox, Chrome, Explorer - should work fine. You will need to download OpenRefine and install it, and when you open it, it will run through the browser, but you don't need an internet connection, and the data will all be stored on your computer.
    • Go to the OpenRefine download page
    • Click on Windows kit to download the install file
    • To use it, unzip, and double-click on openrefine.exe (if you're having issues with openrefine.exe try refine.bat instead)
    • OpenRefine will then open in your web browser.
    • If it doesn't open automatically, open a web broswer after you've started the program and go to the URL http://localhost:3333 and you should see OpenRefine.

  3. R
    In the workshop, we will use RStudio. RStudio is a nice interface to the programming language R. To use RStudio, you need to install both R and RStudio.
    • Download R from here
    • Run the .exe file that was just downloaded
    • Go to the RStudio Download page
    • Under Installers select RStudio 0.98.1103 - Windows XP/Vista/7/8
    • Double click the file to install it
    • Once it's installed, open RStudio to make sure it works and you don't get any error messages.

  4. Python

    Python is a popular language for research computing, and great for general-purpose programming as well. Installing all of its research 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., 3.4 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 are all supported (some older browsers, including Internet Explorer version 9 and below, are not).

    Video Tutorial
    1. Open http://continuum.io/downloads with your web browser.
    2. Download the Python 3 installer for Windows.
    3. Install Python 3 using all of the defaults for installation except make sure to check Make Anaconda the default Python.

Mac

Please go through all the installation steps below and make sure that you not only installed them, but start them up to make sure they're working. If you have any problems, don't hesitate to email the instructors to ask for help, or arrive early on the first day of the workshop to get help.

  1. A spreadsheet program
    For this workshop you will need a spreadsheet program. Many people already have Microsoft Excel installed, and if you do, you're set!
    If you need a spreadsheet program, there are a few other options, like OpenOffice and LibreOffice. Install instructions for LibreOffice, which is free and open source, are here.
    • Download the Installer
      Install LibreOffice by going to the installation page. The version for Mac should automatically be selected. Click on the button below "Main Installer" Download Version x.y.z. You will go to a page that asks about a donation, but you don't need to make one. Your download should begin automatically.
    • Install LibreOffice
      Once the installer is downloaded, double click on it and it should install. If you have difficulties, try changing your computer's default settings by going to System Preferences -> Security and Privacy -> And select “allow apps downloaded from: anywhere”.
    • To use LibreOffice, double click on the icon and it will open.

  2. OpenRefine
    OpenRefine (previously Google Refine) is a tool for data cleaning that runs through a web browser, and any browser - Safari, Firefox, Chrome, Explorer - should work fine. You will need to download Google Refine and install it, and when you open it, it will run through the browser, but you don't need an internet connection, and the data will all be stored on your computer.
    • Go to the OpenRefine download page
    • Click on Mac kit to download the install file
    • Open the downloaded .dmg file
    • Drag the icon in to the Applications folder. If you have difficulties, try changing your computer's default settings by going to System Preferences -> Security and Privacy -> And select “allow apps downloaded from: anywhere”.
    • Double click on the icon and Google Refine will then open in your web browser.
    • If it doesn't open automatically, open a web broswer after you've started the program and go to the URL http://localhost:3333 and you should see OpenRefine.

  3. R
    In the workshop, we will use RStudio. RStudio is a nice interface to the programming language R. To use RStudio, you need to install both R and RStudio.
    • Go to CRAN and click on Download R for (Mac) OS X
    • Select the .pkg file for the version of OS X that you have and the file will download.
    • Double click on the file that was downloaded and R will install
    • Go to the RStudio Download page
    • Under Installers select RStudio x.yy.zzz - Mac OS X 10.6+ (64-bit) to download it.
    • Once it's downloaded, double click the file to install it
    • Once it's installed, open RStudio to make sure it works and you don't get any error messages.

  4. Python

    Python is a popular language for research computing, and great for general-purpose programming as well. Installing all of its research 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., 3.4 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 are all supported (some older browsers, including Internet Explorer version 9 and below, are not).

    Video Tutorial
    1. Open http://continuum.io/downloads with your web browser.
    2. Download the Python 3 installer for OS X.
    3. Install Python 3 using all of the defaults for installation.

Linux

Please go through all the installation steps below and make sure that you not only installed them, but start them up to make sure they're working. If you have any problems, don't hesitate to email the instructors to ask for help, or arrive early on the first day of the workshop to get help.

  1. A spreadsheet program
    For this workshop you will need a spreadsheet program. LibreOffice comes preinstalled with several Linux distributions. If you don't already have it, use your package manager to install it: (e.g., sudo apt-get install libreoffice for Ubuntu and other Debian-based distributions).

  2. OpenRefine
    OpenRefine (previously Google Refine) is a tool for data cleaning that runs through a web browser, and any browser - Safari, Firefox, Chrome, Explorer - should work fine. You will need to download Google Refine and install it, and when you open it, it will run through the browser, but you don't need an internet connection, and the data will all be stored on your computer.
    • Go to the OpenRefine download page
    • Click on Linux kit to download the install file
    • Download and extract
    • Type ./refine in your terminal and Google Refine will then open in your web browser.
    • If it doesn't open automatically, open a web broswer after you've started the program and go to the URL http://localhost:3333 and you should see OpenRefine.

  3. R
    In the workshop, we will use RStudio. RStudio is a nice interface to the programming language R. To use RStudio, you need to install both R and RStudio.
    • Follow the instructions for your distribution from CRAN. For most distributions, you can use your package manager (e.g. for Debian/Ubuntu run sudo apt-get install r-base, and for Fedora run sudo yum install R) but make sure that you have at least R 3.2.2 (as pre-packaged versions might be out of date).
    • To install RStudio, go to the RStudio Download page
    • Under Installers select the version for your distribution.
    • Once it's downloaded, double click the file to install it (or sudo dpkg -i rstudio-x.yy.zzz-amd64.deb at the terminal).
    • Once it's installed, open RStudio to make sure it works and you don't get any error messages.

  4. Python

    Python is a popular language for research computing, and great for general-purpose programming as well. Installing all of its research 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., 3.4 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 are all supported (some older browsers, including Internet Explorer version 9 and below, are not).

    • Open http://continuum.io/downloads with your web browser.
    • Download the Python 3 installer for Linux.
      (Installation requires using the shell. If you aren't comfortable doing the installation yourself stop here and request help at the workshop.)
    • Open a terminal window.
    • Type 
      bash Anaconda3-
      and then press tab. The name of the file you just downloaded should appear. If it does not, navigate to the folder where you downloaded the file, for example with: 
      cd Downloads
      Then, try again.
    • Press enter. You will follow the text-only prompts. To move through the text, press the space key. 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).
    • Close the terminal window.
License Blog GitHub Twitter Issues