Pre-event Material

Intro and Preparation for Waterhackweek

Overview

Teaching: 15 min
Exercises: 0 min
Questions

  • Will my laptop work for this hackathon?

  • What version of Python should I install?

  • What tools do I need to participate?

Objectives

  • Getting patricipants ready for running code in the cloud and on their local machines during the Waterhackweek

This preliminary tutorial is one that we would like you to complete before arriving at Waterhackweek. The purpose is to learn about the minimum system requirement for the Geohackweek, install the necessary software used during the week, and hopefully answer any other technical question about your computer setup. Our goal is to have everyone up-and-running prior to the event so we can focus our time more productively when you arrive in person.

Overview

Python software is distributed as a series of libraries that are called within your code to perform certain tasks. There are many different collections, or distributions of Python software. Generally you install a specific distribution of Python and then add additional libraries as you need them. There are also several different versions of Python. The two main versions right now are 2.7 and 3.6. Some libraries only work with specific versions of Python.

So even though Python is one of the most adaptable, easy-to-use software systems, you can see there are still complexities to work out and potential challenges when delivering content to a large group. Therefore we have a number of different ways that we are trying to simplify this process to maximize your learning during Geohackweek.

This year, we will be using a JupyterHub JupyterHub is a multi-user Hub that provides multiple instances of the single-user Jupyter notebook server. A Jupyter Notebook is an open-source web application that allows users to create and share documents containing live code, equations, visualizations, and markdown texts. Here’s a overview on JupyterHub.

We also provide instructions for using Anaconda, which is our recommended Python distribution. We can assist in setting up “conda” environments that will simplify the gathering of Python libraries and version specific to the tutorial you are working on.

Getting set up with Conda

Conda is an open source package and environment management system for python libraries. We will be using various Python libraries with multiple dependencies, so it is critical that you have some sort of package management system in place. Conda can be installed in almost any computer.

Here are the system requirements:

Click here to start our Conda tutorial. Let us know if on Slack you are having problems with installing Conda.

Sign up for a Hydroshare account

Create a Hydroshare account following these giudelines

Getting setup with Git

Be sure to arrive at Waterhackweek with your own GitHub account. We reccomend to watch or re-watch the Waterhackweek git tutorial video and check out the slides as needed.

Getting setup with JupyterHub

For those who have their Github accounts, you can try accessing the Jupyterhub server we will be using throughout the program. You will be logging into Jupyterhub using your Github credentials. Starting the server will take anywhere from a few seconds to five minutes. Please be patient when the server is loading.

Creating an account for Google Earth Engine

In order to use Google Earth Engine, you need to sign up for the platform. Click here and follow the directions to sign up and gain access to our shared code folder.

Brushing up on Python

Given all the content we hope to cover during Waterhackweek, we will not be able to provide instruction in Python fundamentals. Here are some excellent resources we recommend using to brush up on your Python skills in advance of our event:

Key Points