Python

Python is a powerful scripting/programming language widely used in scientific processing and analysis: https://www.python.org/

Download and installation

There are many ways to install Python. We recommend using the fast cross-platform package manager Mamba from the Miniforge distribution, which provides a safe, flexible and fast way for installing Python with different packages and all their dependencies. Instructions for installation on various platforms are available in the Mamba installation guide. Using mamba, a Python environment containing all required packages (modules) can be created, see suggested procedure below. mamba is a reimplementation of the conda package manager in C++ and is generally faster and better at respolving dependencies. It is a drop-in replacement and uses the same commands and configuration options as conda.

Required packages (modules)

Different Python packages (modules) are required for in different modules/themes of this course. Find the list of required packages in the .yml files. You can download the yaml files for the respective modules here:
Module 1: etrainee_m1.yml
Module 3: etrainee_m3.yml
Module 4: etrainee_m4.yml

Creating the etrainee Python environment with Mamba

A recommended practice to set up Python for this course, is to create a Mamba environment with all required modules (packages). If you are using Conda/Mamba, you may use the following procedure to create an etrainee_mX Python environment for each module:

mamba env create -f etrainee_m1.yml
mamba env create -f etrainee_m2.yml
mamba env create -f etrainee_m3.yml

Getting started

Basic knowledge of programming and Python are required in this course. If you are new to Python, check the resources given in the pre-module. If you are already familiar with some Python basics but not with Conda/Mamba and environments, with Jupyter Notebooks, and with geodata processing in Python then we recommend to go through the Toolbox intro at the beginning of Module 1.