resources

Plasma Hack Week Resources

This directory contains resources pertinent to the 2022 Plasma Hack Week. Added resources include, but are not limit to, pre-event background materials, demo Jupyter notebooks, tutorials, etc.

Contents:

1. Pre-Event Materials
2. Getting Yourself Setup for the Hack Week
3. Event Day Resources

Pre-Event Materials

1. Installing git
2. Installing Python
3. Anaconda
4. Install your favorite code editor
5. Installing plasmapy

Installing git

git is a free open-source version control system, and is the backbone to collaborative open-source software development. On Day 2 we will cover how to use git, both through a command line interface (CLI) and built-in graphical user interfaces (GUIs) to select code editors.

Installing Python

For the Hack Week we will require Python 3.8+, and recommend installing Python 3.10. A Python distribution can be downloaded directly from python.org and installed.

Anaconda

Anaconda is similar to the Python Package Index (PyPI), in that it is a package distribution hub. Unlike PyPI, packages listed on Anaconda are not restricted to just Python packages.

Anaconda has its own package installer called conda, similar to PyPI's installer pip. Unlike pip, conda also has built-in functionality for managing virtual environments. For more detailed information, look to Anaconda's "Understanding Conda and Pip" primer.

Anaconda also provides the Anaconda Navigator, which is a desktop GUI which allows you to launch applications and manage conda packages.

Install your favorite code editor

During the Hack Week the organizers will be using their Integrated Development Environment (IDE), i.e. code editor, of choices, so you will get exposure to the main IDEs out there. The three IDEs that will be used are:

• VSCode by Microsoft,
• PyCharm by JetBrains
• Spyder

On Day 1 we will give a brief overview of each IDE.

Installing plasmapy

For the Hack Week we will be using v0.8.1 of plasmapy. This can be installed using pip or conda, depending on your workflow. For full installation instructions see PlasmaPy's documentation.

Sign Up for GitHub

GitHub is a code hosting platform for version control and collaboration. GitHub is where we will combine all of collaborative work during the Hack Week to create the hack package. There are two types of GitHub accounts, a personal account and an organization account. All you need to do is create a free personal account.

Getting Yourself Setup for the Hack Week

Most on the getting setup resources are listed above in the Pre-Event Materials section. However, here is check list of the steps you should do. Most of these steps will be covered during days 1 and 2 of the Hack Week, but we highly encourage you get started before the event.

• Install git

• Create a free personal GitHub account

• Decide if you want to used Anaconda or not

  • Yes: Install Anaconda, which will also install a copy of Python.
  • No (and Yes): Install Python. If yes, Anaconda does install a copy of Python, but you can still install other versions of Python to use in different environments.

• Install plamsapy

• Install your code editor of choice

Event Day Resources

Day 1 Resources

• Getting Python
  • Python, PyPI, and pip
• Getting Anaconda
• Terminals
  • On Unix & MacOS
  • On Windows
• Interactive Development Environments
  • Overview Slides
  • Spyder Overview & Walk-through
  • VSCode Overview & Walk-through
  • PyCharm Overview & Walk-through
• Virtual Environments

Day 2 Resources

• Getting git
• GitHub Documentation
• GitHub Hello World
• git & GitHub Overview Slides
• Dive into plasmapy notebooks
  • Blank Notebook
  • Completed Notebook