McGill Artificial Intelligence Society

Getting as:
Workshop
Essentials
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Prerequisite Knowledge

Workshop Choice of Language: Python

Necessary Packages

Package Installation Tutorial (Essential Before Workshop)

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What should I know before going into these
workshops?

Since there is a limited number of workshops per semester,

we assume some baseline knowledge, and will NOT be
covering the following during the workshops:

● Basic coding (COMP 202 equivalent)

● Knowledge of basic linear algebra
● Calculus (derivatives, gradients, partial derivatives)

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What language will the coding portions of the
workshops be taught in? What do I need to install?

Python 3:

● Very readable, simple, easy to understand

● MANY open-source libraries for implementing machine
learning algorithms in a few lines
● Very quick learning curve!

Why Use Python Article

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 So, in addition to Python 3, what “packages*”
should I install?

● Numpy, Scipy: scientific computing (matrices, arrays)

● Pandas: easy handling of labeled/relational data
● Scikit-learn: offers accessible machine learning tools
● Matplotlib: data visualization
● Jupyter: online web app that allows to share/edit live code

Wow, that’s a lot of packages… but FRET NOT!

There is a package management system called Conda that does all of

this for you!

*package: files / resources grouped together into a software collection for a specific functionality
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Why Conda?
● Conda automatically comes with the packages mentioned in the
previous slides, and sets up your Python environment for you as
well (i.e. Python comes with it)
● GUI installation is supported

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Also, you don’t want this...

https://xkcd.com/1987/ 7
Package Installation Tutorial

Before attending any workshop, you must install the following

(installation will not be covered during the workshop)-

● Git (version control) installation tutorial

● A Github Account!

● Python Packages (comes with Conda)

● Jupyter Notebook (comes with Conda)

(Continued on Following Slide)

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Package Installation (Continued)
1. Install Git*

2. Make a Github account

3. Install Conda:
Choose the right Python 3 Installation for your operating system-

Windows*
MacOS
Linux

* During the installation process, you will be prompted with the

question: “Do you wish the installer to prepend the Anaconda3 install
location to PATH…” To which you should respond with ‘yes’
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Installing Conda (Continued)

After you are done installing conda, go to your home directory (using
the command cd will suffice)

If you are using OSX, type the command:

source .bash_profile

If you are on Debian, type the command:

source .bashrc

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2. Check your installation

1. Go to your terminal, and simply enter:

conda -V

You should see something like:

conda 4.5.4

2. Check your Python version:

python -V

You should see something like:

Python 3.5.2 :: Anaconda 4.2.0 (x86_64)
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4. Check that your packages are well installed:

1) You can type in terminal:

conda list

2) You should see something like:

alabaster 0.7.10 py36h174008c_0
anaconda custom py36ha4fed55_0
(some things in between)...
…
yaml 0.1.7 hc338f04_2
zeromq 4.2.5 h378b8a2_0
zict 0.1.3 py36h71da714_0
zlib 1.2.11 hf3cbc9b_2

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4. Clone the workshop repository from Github:

1) Change into the repository you want to clone into:

cd <PATH TO YOUR DIRECTORY>
2) Use git to “clone” the repository with the workshop material.
git clone https://github.com/McGillAISociety/workshops-f18

** If you are uncomfortable with Git, simply download the folder as a

.zip file from the URL. **

You should now have all the files necessary to follow along!
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You should now have all the files to follow along

For future workshops, simply navigate to the correct folder and pull
the changes from Github!

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