What version of Python do we use?

Throughout this book, we are using the Anaconda distribution, along with Python version 3.7.3.

Will it work on a Windows PC?

Absolutely! Python is a cross-platform language and will run on any Windows, Mac, or Linux device. In fact, it can even run on Raspberry Pi, Lego Mindstorms, and Arduino boards!

Do I need to install any additional packages?

Not if you've installed them in bulk using the environment.yaml file from the repository, or using a Docker image. Otherwise, you need to install packages using PIP or Conda.

What is a Jupyter Notebook?

Jupyter Notebook is a special file format, based on JSON, and used by Project Jupyter; in a nutshell, it represents code in an interactive and descriptive manner and can mix code with text, rich media, and interactive widgets.

When and why should we use Jupyter Notebooks?

Jupyter Notebooks are great for research and educational projects as they allow you to tweak and debug your code in an interactive manner, mix code with text and equations, and show the outcome of each code snippet immediately. 

When should I switch to VS Code?

Compared to the Jupyter Notebooks, VS Code is a classical text-oriented editor. VS Code has a built-in Git client, debugger, terminal, code analyzers, testing interface, and hundreds of other features, making it very convenient when it comes to writing large amounts of Python code and developing complex apps and packages. We will switch to VS Code to build standalone scripts, packages, and applications.

Can I run the code from this book on my smartphone/tablet?

Yes and no. There is no way to run the code from this book on a smartphone/tablet (although the Pythonista app on iOS will be able to run some snippets), but you can access the MyBinder service (or, as an alternative, Azure Notebooks or Google Colab), which will deploy a virtual machine with all this book's code on it and everything to run it. This way, you can run the code through any device that has a browser! This has one limitation, though—all of those services have limitations on computations; MyBinder will discard the virtual machine after a 2-hour session, dropping any new code and changes you make.