Summary

The webpage provides a comprehensive guide on installing Python on Windows using the Anaconda distribution, including troubleshooting and additional resources for further learning.

Abstract

The tutorial on the webpage is divided into three main parts: installing Anaconda, testing the installation, and managing environments and packages. It advises downloading Anaconda from the official website, choosing between Python 2 or 3 based on user needs, and selecting default installation options. Post-installation steps include opening Anaconda Prompt to verify Jupyter Notebook functionality and potentially adding Python and Conda to environment variables if not automatically configured during installation. The guide also offers solutions for path issues, integration with PyCharm, managing multiple Python versions, and recommends additional tutorials for environment management with Conda, Git installation, and data visualization with Python.

Opinions

The author emphasizes the ease of using the Anaconda Distribution for Python data science and machine learning tasks.
It is suggested that users may prefer Python 2 or 3 depending on their specific requirements, implying a flexibility in the installation process.
The guide acknowledges that some users may not have administrative rights on their computers, which affects the installation configuration.
The author provides a personal preference for using Anaconda Prompt over the standard command prompt for Python-related tasks.
The inclusion of video tutorials indicates a preference for visual and auditory learning aids.
The author encourages user interaction by inviting questions on various platforms, showing a commitment to community support and engagement.
The recommendation of additional tutorials and courses reflects the author's view on the importance of continuous learning and the value of data visualization skills.

Install Python on Windows (Anaconda)

This tutorial is split into three sections. The first part is installing Anaconda. The second part is testing your installation (making sure conda works, dealing with path issues etc). Finally, the last part of the tutorial goes over installing packages, and environment management. As always, feel free to ask questions either here or on the youtube video page. I should note that there is an updated version of this tutorial if you click on this link.

Download and install Anaconda (windows version) from

Anaconda Python/R Distribution - Free Download

The open-source Anaconda Distribution is the easiest way to perform Python/R data science and machine learning on…

www.anaconda.com

Choose either the Python 2 or Python 3 Version depending on your needs. It doesn’t effect the installation process.

2.Select the default options when prompted during the installation of Anaconda.

Note: If you checked this box, steps 4 and 5are not needed. The reason why it isn’t preselected is a lot of people don’t have administrative rights on their computers.

Add Anaconda to PATH Environmental Variable

3. After you finished installing, open Anaconda Prompt. Type the command below to see that you can use a Jupyter (IPython) Notebook.

jupyter notebook

If you want a basic tutorial going over how to open Jupyter and using python, please see the video below.

4. If you didn’t check the add Anaconda to path argument during the installation process, you will have to add python and conda to your environment variables. You know you need to do so if you open a command prompt (not anaconda prompt) and get the following messages

Messages like this mean you havent added python or conda to your path yet. In the next step, we will fix this

5. This step gives two options for adding python and conda to your path (only choose 1 option).

If you don’t know where your conda and/or python is, you type the following commands into your anaconda prompt

Option 1:

You can manually modify your environment variables. See this video for a walk through.

Option 2:

You can add Python and Conda to your path by using the setx command in your command prompt.

Added Conda and Python to my Environment Variables.

6. Close the current command prompt and open a new one. Try typing python and conda in your command prompt to see if the paths are saved. Done!

Further Steps (Optional)

If you want to use PyCharm (a python IDE), please see this tutorial on Integrating Anaconda with PyCharm.

2. If you want to use both python 2 and 3, please see the following tutorial on Environment Management with Conda.

3. I recommend the following tutorial if you plan to Install Git on Windows. It will also give you access to some unix tools like ls, cat, pwd, nano, and ssh on your command prompt.

4. If you want to learn how to use Anaconda, I have a LinkedIn Learning course on Pandas and Matplotlib called Python for Data Visualization. Here is a free preview video.

Please let me know if you have any questions! You can either leave a comment here or in the comments section of YouTube or through Twitter.