Setup for Python workshop
Last updated on 2025-04-08 | Edit this page
Overview
This workshop is designed to be run on your laptop. First, you will need to download the data we use in the workshop. Then, you need to install some software. After following the instructions on this page, you should have everything you need to participate fully in the workshop!
Data
You can download all of the data used in this workshop as a single zip file. The file is 206 KB.
Clicking the download link will automatically download all of the
files to your default download directory as a single compressed
(.zip) file. To expand this file, double click the folder
icon in your file navigator application (for Macs, this is the Finder
application).
For a full description of the data used in this workshop see the data page.
Software
| Software | Install | Manual | Available for | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spreadsheet program | Download LibreOffice | LibreOffice documentation | Linux, MacOS, Windows | Spreadsheet program for organizing tabular data. |
| OpenRefine | Download OpenRefine | OpenRefine documentation | Linux, MacOS, Windows | |
| Python | See install instructions below. | Linux, MacOS, Windows | ||
| DB Browser for SQLite | Download DB Browser for SQLite | Linux, MacOS, Windows |
Spreadsheet program
To interact with spreadsheets, we can use LibreOffice, Microsoft Excel, Gnumeric, OpenOffice.org, or other programs. Commands may differ a bit between programs, but the general ideas for thinking about spreadsheets are the same. For this workshop, we recommend using either Microsoft Excel (paid software) or LibreOffice (free and open source). Other spreadsheet programs may not have all of the features we will be exploring in this workshop.
To install LibreOffice, first download LibreOffice. The website should automatically select the correct option for your operating system. Click the “Download” button. You will go to a page that asks about a donation, but you don’t need to make one. Your download should begin automatically. Once the installer is downloaded, double click on it (you may need to open your Downloads folder) and LibreOffice should install.
OpenRefine
OpenRefine can be downloaded from the OpenRefine downloads page. When you download the version for your operating system, you are redirected to a page with initial instructions for running the software.
More detailed instructions are included in the Setup section in the OpenRefine for Social Science Data.
Python and Jupyter Notebooks
Python is a popular language for scientific computing, and great for general-purpose programming as well. For this workshop we use Python version 3.x. Installing all of its scientific packages individually can be a bit difficult, so we provide an environment file to help you take care of them all together. We will use the Miniforge distribution of Python.
Please refer to the Python section of the workshop website for installation instructions.
Launching Jupyter
The notebook should open automatically in your browser. If it does not or you wish to use a different browser, open this link: http://localhost:8888.
For a brief introduction to Jupyter Notebooks, please consult our Introduction to Jupyter Notebooks page.
SQL
SQL is a specialized programming language used with databases. We use a simple database manager called SQLite in our lessons. We will use the DB Browser for SQLite program, which is available for all major platforms.
To install the DB Browser, first download DB Browser for SQLite and choose the correct installer for your operating system. Once the installer is downloaded, double click on it (you may need to open your Downloads folder), follow any other instructions that appear, and DB Browser should install. After installing, you can delete the installer file.
Congratulations! You are now ready for the workshop!