[Tutor] substituting for time_series, Pandas, Anaconda. Practical Programming, intro Comp Sci, Gries text

[Marc Tompkins]

On Wed, May 14, 2014 at 12:08 PM, Charles Agriesti
<dragriesti at comcast.net>wrote:


> Is this Anaconda thing any part of being able to run the scripts from the
> textbook with time_series? Is it a complete wild goose chase?
>


First off - I know nothing about using Python in a scientific setting.
Second (before anyone else points this out) this is the Python tutor list;
your question is a bit off-topic (i.e. relating to specific
packages/distributions rather than Python itself.)  This is not a criticism
or rebuke; it's just that you're likely to get better help on a list where
most of the people actually use the stuff you're asking about.

Having said that, Pandas appears to be a pretty normal Python package,
meaning that you could install it by itself; Anaconda is a distribution of
scientific Python that aims to do it all for you in one swell foop - but
it's not necessary.  If you've installed pip, it's as simple as "pip
install pandas".  If you haven't installed pip and you use Windows, the
simplest thing is to install pip-Win:
     https://sites.google.com/site/pydatalog/python/pip-for-windows

Anaconda actually installs a virtual environment that doesn't rely on or
interfere with other versions of Python that are already installed, so no
worries there.  As long as you work inside Anaconda, the fact that you also
have 3.4 installed elsewhere is not an issue.  The fact that Anaconda
presents you with a radically different working environment than you're
used to - that might be an issue.



> Should I install SciPy? Is Pandas separate from that?


Can't answer that.  SciPy is a "stack", meaning that it contains multiple
packages meant to work together (Pandas is one of them), and the SciPy
people themselves recommend Anaconda as one of the easiest ways to install
SciPy.  Do you need it?  No idea.

Should I install Python33? Will this conflict with the 27 and 34 already on
> this computer?
>

The chief source of conflict would be file associations and the system path
- i.e. what happens when you double-click on a .py file or type "python" at
a prompt.  Here's where Python's "virtualenv" comes in handy, or a Python
distribution that uses it - like Anaconda.  As long as you work inside
Anaconda, you don't have to worry about other versions.


> Give up on the Gries book and try a different one?
>

It seems well-reviewed; a discontinued package doesn't seem like a good
reason to abandon it, as long as there's a workaround...

It does look like Pandas is the replacement for scikits.timeseries
(although you're writing that as "time_series", which makes me wonder
whether it's the same package at all!)  Only trial and error will tell
whether the syntax for using Pandas is the same as what's in your book.
Good luck!
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