MTEC1003 Media Computation Skills Lab

Fall 2023 Wed 6:00-8:30 [ONLINE] Prof. Louis Goldford.

SYLLABUS SCHEDULE SOFTWARE + RESOURCES GRADING

Software + Resources

A list of stuff we’ll be using throughout the course.
Be sure you’ve installed + tested all 7 of these before you arrive in class:

College Laboratory Technicians (CLT)

If you cannot resolve installation errors and need assistance with the installation procedures below, contact one of our CLTs:

Be respectful of their roles and resonsibilities: Only ask a CLT for technical assistance. CLTs will be unable to demonstrate or instruct the lessons from our classes, for example, if you were absent. For questions related to our course content, contact your Professor.

1a. Windows Users: A Free Terminal Emulator

If you’re not on macOS, you’ll most likely need a program that mimics the behavior of the Unix command line.
Mac users can ignore this step! But if you’re on Windows, install one of these free apps:

1b. Windows Users: Virtual Desktop (Optional)

Additionally, Windows users may request access to a Virtual Desktop to be able to work on macOS remotely.

2. Text Editor

Check your operating system for compatibility and install one of these:

3. Homebrew (macOS and Linux systems only!)

Package management system to ease installation of other tools and software.

  1. INSTALL:
    • See the Wiki, or scroll to the end of the Homebrew homepage
    • Or, open your Terminal and run:
      ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.github.com/Homebrew/homebrew/go/install)"
    • You may then need to run the following to check installation and update:
      brew doctor
      brew update
  2. VERIFY:
    • Open your Terminal and run:
      brew --version
    • Your console should return something that looks like this:
      Homebrew 2.4.9
      Homebrew/homebrew-core (git revision 58437; last commit 2020-08-08)

4. GIT

Version control system for tracking changes in development code or any set of files.

You'll be using GIT (and GitHub.com) to submit your lab homework every week, so be sure to set this up!

  1. INSTALL:
    brew install git
  2. VERIFY:
    • Open your Terminal and run:
      git --version
    • Your console should return something that looks like this:
      git version 2.20.1 (Apple Git-117)

5. Set up a Free Public Account on GitHub.com

You'll be using GIT (and GitHub.com) to submit your lab homework every week, so be sure to set this up!

  1. SIGN UP:
  2. VERIFY:

6. Google Chrome

A web browser with great built-in device compatibility tools.

  1. INSTALL:
  2. VERIFY:
    • Chrome can be launched from your /Applications folder.

7. Python 3 + pip

Python is an object-oriented, interpreted, and interactive programming language that we’ll be introducing alongside JavaScript. It’s great for quick prototyping and even better for data visualization.

pip is the standard package manager for the Python language, allowing you to easily install code packages + modules from the extensive standard library.

  1. INSTALL using these tutorials:
  2. VERIFY:
    • Verify Python 3:
      • Open your Terminal and run:
        python3 --version
      • Your console should return something that looks like this:
        Python 3.8.5
    • Verify pip:
      • Open your Terminal and run:
        pip --version
      • Your console should return something that looks like this:
        pip 20.2 from /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.8/lib/python3.8/site-packages/pip (python 3.8)
      • or:
        pip 18.1 from C:\Python37\lib\site-packages\pip (python 3.7)
  3. Create an alias so that anytime you run python on the command line, you’ll be using Python 3 instead of older versions.
    • When using Python, run this command when you begin a Terminal session:
      alias python=/usr/local/bin/python3