| Computing Setup |
- Send a Greetings post to the Service Desk for this course
Description: You can earn 10 participation points by sending a Greetings post to the Service Desk
for this
course within the first 2 weeks of the semester. Regardless of the points earned,
getting started using
the Service Desk is a best practice.
- Choose Your Computer
Description:
I recommend that you use a computer that runs Windows (either Windows 10 or
Windows 11) or a recent release of macOS.
While the software that we will be using for this course does run on Linux, there
will be substantially less technical support available for Linux.
If you are considering using a Linux computer, please consult with me beforehand.
- Install Anaconda
Description: Anaconda is an open data science platform that provides access to a coordinated set
of
Python tools. We will be using Anaconda to provide our basic Python tools. This
will relieve
some of the pressure of downloading many Python tools individually. It will also
give us some
experience in working with Anaconda, which is a valuable skill in its own right.
In the current
semester we will be using Python 3.10. Please remember to play the separate tutorial
on "Creating
the Anaconda Virtual Env for the Django Course." In that tutorial, we will be including
the
packages for both Python and Django. The version of Django that we are using in the
current semester
is Django 4.1. The name of the virtual env that we are creating should be: e4_trainor_django_course.
- Install PyCharm Professional
Description: PyCharm Professional is a leading Python Integrated Development Environment (IDE).
I will be using PyCharm in my tutorial videos and I will expect you to use PyCharm
when
completing your assignments.
JetBrains, the makers of PyCharm Professional, offer free licenses to this and a number
of other
products to university students and faculty. You will need to secure one of these
free
licenses from JetBrains using the link below. Following that, you will need to install
PyCharm Professional by following one of the tutorial videos below that will help
you through
the download and install.
- Learn About Git
Description:
Using the Git version control system has become a basic programmer skill that
everyone should master. Having said that, I want to point out that the only time
that you will be required to use Git during this course is for the very last coding
assignment in which we deploy the EZ University Django application. Nevertheless,
many
of you will want to be using git from the very beginning of the course. Most of
our textbooks are written with the assumption that you will be using Git. More important,
having your code in a Git repository gives you the ability to back out recent changes
and recover from mistakes. In previous teachings of this course, the I chose Bitbucket
as
my Git repository vendor and SourceTree as my graphical Git client. You will notice
that
I mention them in a number of my tutorial videos. Since then, I have come to prefer
GitHub
as my Git repository vendor and GitHub Desktop as my graphical Git client. While
you are free to choose whichever Git-related tools you want to use, these are tools
that
I am currently recommending. I have included one link below to a LinkedIn Learning
course
that address Git. No single course at LinkedIn Learning perfectly addresses
the exact list of Git-related skills needed for our course. I am expecting you to
find your way to the combination of resources that works for you. I invite you to
share
any helpful resources that you find with other students using our Open Discussion
Forum.
- Install a Graphical Git Client
Description:
Natively, Git is a command line tool. Many people use Git at the command line very
comfortably. Yet, many of us like graphical tools. If that includes you, then you
will want to pick a graphical Git client and install that for your use. PyCharm
includes a graphical Git client. It is not my favorite. But, I use it when I must.
Currently, my preferred graphical Git client is GitHub Desktop. I have included links
below for that and some other graphical Git clients that you may want to consider.
- Sign Up for an Account With a Git Remote Repository Service Provider
Description:
When using Git, you will need to set up an account with a remote repository service
provider.
This allows you to share your code with others and it allows you to use Git to deploy
code
on any server. We will be using Git for the deploy use case. So, you will need to
set up
an account on one of these services. Currently, my preferred provider is GitHub.
Any of the providers have free account options and any of them will work for the deploy
use case that will be important in our course. You may choose whichever
of these you wish. Remember to register with your Illinois email address to make sure
that
you get any free services offered to university students.
- Sign Up for a PythonAnywhere Account
Description: In our couse, we will be using PythonAnywhere accounts to deploy Django
apps on a free server. You will not be required to deploy a Django application
to the server until our very last coding assignment. Nevertheless, some of you
might want to try deployment earlier. You might even want to try to deploy the
code that you create in the first coding assignment. Whenever you deploy, you
will need to have set up a PythonAnywhere account.
I have included a link below that you may use to sign up for your
free PythonAnywhere account. If possible, use your Illinois user-id as your user-id
for PythonAnywhere.
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