Download the Following Materials

• Getting-started (PDF)
• WinPython (Mac users: Anaconda)
• Get Notepad++
• Get git
• From the FH-library (you must be logged in!!), get the book Hands-on Signal Analysis with Python "SaPy"
• Personally, I also really like Directory Opus. But it is commercial, and slightly more expensive. Give it a try - you may like it too.

On Your Computer

• Make sure you have a program to zip and unzip data installed (e.g. 7zip).
• Clean up your Windows Desktop: You should not have more than seven icons on it. And don't just pull files onto the Desktop, always save them into folders!
• Turn on Windows File Explorer | View -> Show -> File Name Extensions.
• Make sure you have a clear file-structure on your computer:
  • Know your home-directory! (in the powershell, you can get there with ~; in the command window you see it when you type %USERPROFILE%)
  • Either from there, or from the Documents directory, make a sub-directory FH, and there a separate folder for each lecture.
• Go to https://work.thaslwanter.at/py_intro, Chapter Installation, and install a Python Distribution(e.g. WinPython) on your computer. Note: WinPython should be installed in the directory C:\Programs. You may have to create this directory if it does not already exist!
• Try to work through that chapter as far as possible. Note that there is a video at the bottom of that page to help you.

Personalize your computer

The following steps are for Windows users. For Mac, check out the instructions in my book "Hands-on Signal Analysis with Python" , in the chapters 2.1.2. (Installation of Python) and 2.3.3. (Personalizing IPython/Jupyter).

• Set Environment path so that Python gets detected (The following assumes you have installed WinPython in the folder C:\Programs!)
  • In Alt+Win | Edit environment variables for YOUR account | Path | Edit | New | C:\Programs\WPy64-31450\python\Scripts | OK | OK
  • The same, with C:\Programs\WPy64-31450\python
• Add ~\ipynb.bat to your home directory, containing the following text:
  jupyter lab %1
• Add ~\ipy.bat, containing the following text:
  cd [here you have to enter the directory where you want to work!]
jupyter qtconsole

Installation of an IDE

There are a number of very good Integrated Development Environments (IDEs). The following links provide tips for the installation of each IDE:

• WingPro.
• PyCharm
• Spyder
• VS Code
• neovim
• Visual Studio
• Eclipse

Check if your system is properly configured

• Open a "command terminal"/"command console" by typing "WIN+R | cmd | OK".
• In this terminal enter the command python. If your system is properly configured, Python should start up in your terminal. You can exit it by typing exit.
• If Python does NOT start, please re-read section "2.1.2 Installation of Python | Under Windows" in "Hands-on Signal Analysis with Python".
• If your system has been configured properly, you should be able to immediately work with Python after starting an IPython interpreter. For example, you can start a QtConsole from your terminal, with the command jupyter qtconsole. You can test your configuration by typing the command plt.plot(np.sin(np.arange(0, 10, 0.1))). This should plot a sine-wave in your QtConsole.

Packages

When that is done, you can focus on your "Python packages". Start a command terminal (NOT Python!), and try out the following commands:

• pip list : shows all installed packages
• pip show numpy : shows the details of your NumPy installation
• pip install FreeSimpleGUI : installs a package that is very useful for the generation of GUIs (graphical user interfaces)
• where python : shows you where the Python executable is located on your computer

The Terminal

• Try out Windows Command Prompt (cmd) or Terminal (pwsh or terminal). Know what * means (Wildcard: "any file/folder containing").
• You may also want to check out powershell-tips or cmd-tips.

Recommended Resources

• Get PyCharm + Jetbrains StudentPack
• Get GitHub Education

Check your first Python Skills

• Is Python running on your computer?
• Where is the Python executable located?
• What is the difference between Python and IPython?
• How do you check if your program is running properly? (Answer: try to run it from the command line.)
• Do you know how to run an IPYNB-file?
• Do you know the most important keyboard shortcuts in JupyterLab?