Setup¶

Get the three course tools working before the first day: JupyterLab for Python, Tableau Desktop and Microsoft Excel. For Python there are two routes. Route A is the browser version GAP describes; Route B runs on your own laptop and works without internet.

What you need¶

Each guide page says which tool a task needs.

Python, Route A: Try JupyterLab (as on GAP)¶

GAP's instructions use Try JupyterLab, a version of JupyterLab that runs entirely in your web browser.

1. Open https://jupyter.org/try-jupyter/lab/ in Chrome, Edge or Firefox.
2. In the Launcher, under Notebook, click Python (Pyodide).
3. Rename the notebook straight away (right-click its tab → Rename Notebook…) with the name the task asks for.

How Try JupyterLab differs from ordinary Python¶

Try JupyterLab runs Python through Pyodide: Python translated so that a browser can run it, inside the tab itself. That has three consequences.

Save your work out of the browser, every time

Before you close the tab: run every cell, export a PDF (File → Print → Save as PDF), and download the notebook (right-click it in the file browser → Download). Treat anything left only in the browser as lost.

If the data will not download¶

GAP's code fetches datasets from GitHub, which is often slow or blocked in mainland China. If a cell hangs or ends in a network error:

1. Ask your facilitator for the course folder (Route B below) and take the CSV file you need from its data folder.
2. Drag the CSV file into Try JupyterLab's file browser on the left.
3. Load it by name instead of by address, for example pd.read_csv("penguins.csv").

If that also fails in your browser, switch to Route B for the rest of the task. The results are the same.

Python, Route B: Anaconda on your laptop (offline)¶

Route B runs the same Python on your own computer. It does not need the internet once it is installed, and your work is saved as ordinary files.

1. Install Anaconda¶

1. Download the Anaconda Distribution installer for Windows or macOS and run it with the default options. (Your facilitator can supply the installer on a USB drive if downloads are slow.)
2. Open Anaconda Navigator and click Launch under JupyterLab, or type jupyter lab in Anaconda Prompt (Windows) or Terminal (macOS).
3. JupyterLab opens in a browser tab, but it runs on your computer.

Anaconda already includes pandas, matplotlib, seaborn, statsmodels, scikit-learn and NLTK. You do not need any %pip install lines in Route B; delete them if you copy code from GAP.

2. Copy the course folder¶

1. Your facilitator gives you the course folder, DATA300_GAP, as a zip file or on a USB drive. Copy it to your Documents folder and unzip it.
2. Inside are the lecture notebooks and a data folder with every dataset the course uses: penguins.csv, diamonds.csv, tips.csv, mpg.csv, datasaurus_dozen.csv and the NLTK word lists in nltk_data.
3. Keep your own notebooks in the DATA300_GAP folder, next to data. Code then loads files with short paths such as pd.read_csv("data/penguins.csv").

3. Check that it works¶

Create a new notebook inside DATA300_GAP and run this cell:

import pandas as pd, matplotlib, seaborn, statsmodels, sklearn, nltk

penguins = pd.read_csv("data/penguins.csv")
print("pandas", pd.__version__, "| rows loaded:", len(penguins))

If it prints the pandas version and a row count, Route B is ready. A FileNotFoundError means the notebook is not in the same folder as data; a ModuleNotFoundError means Anaconda did not install fully.

Turning GAP code into Route B code¶

Each guide page gives the Route B code in full. If you adapt GAP's code yourself, make three changes:

Tableau Desktop¶

1. Go to the Tableau for Students page (https://www.tableau.com/academic/students) and request a free licence with your university email address. You may be asked to prove you are a student.
2. The product key arrives by email. Download Tableau Desktop, install it and enter the key.
3. Open Tableau and click Sample – Superstore under Saved Data Sources on the start page. If a blank sheet opens with the Superstore fields listed on the left, Tableau is ready.

Do this in the pre-class week: verification can take a day or two, and Activity 1 needs Tableau.

Microsoft Excel¶

Labs 6 and 7, Assignment 3 and the capstone use Excel's What-If Analysis → Data Table, RAND(), NORM.INV() and Data → Forecast Sheet. These are built into Excel for Windows and Excel for Mac (Microsoft 365 or Excel 2016 and later). Excel on the web lacks some of them, so use the desktop program or a lab PC. Open Excel once before Day 5 (Tuesday 17 November) to check it starts.

Saving and exporting¶

Always restart and run all before exporting a notebook, so the outputs in the PDF match the code.

Combining PDFs without internet¶

Several tasks ask for one PDF made from two or three parts. Online PDF mergers are often blocked or unreliable, and uploading course work to them is unnecessary. Combine files on your own computer:

• Word (Windows or macOS): put your written answers in a Word document, then insert the other parts as pictures on new pages (Insert → Pictures). Use screenshots or exported images of the notebook and Tableau sheets. Finish with File → Save As → PDF.
• macOS Preview: open the first PDF, choose View → Thumbnails, drag the next PDF into the sidebar below the last page, repeat, then File → Export as PDF.
• Adobe Acrobat (the full program, if installed): Tools → Combine Files.

Open the final PDF and check that every part is there, in the order the task gives, and that the file has the exact name the task asks for.

Submitting on GAP (Moodle)¶

1. Open the course on GAP, find the item (for example Activity 1) and click Add submission.
2. Upload the file with the required name and click Save changes.
3. If the item has a Submit assignment button, click it; until you do, the work stays a draft.
4. Check that the status reads Submitted for grading and that the file opens.

Deadlines are 23:59 China Standard Time. Submit early: GAP can be slow near a deadline.