How to run a Jupyter/iPython notebook (.ipynb) with VS Code#

Step 1. Download VS Code#

Step 2. Get the code on your computer somehow#

Note

Do EITHER Method 1 OR Method 2 (doing both is redundant)

Method 1 (Beginner/Easy mode) - Download the repository from the web page#

Note

This method involves manually downloading the class repository from the GitHub website.

Its simple and straightforward, and the recommended option for folks who want to get things up and running as quickly as possible.

Method 2 (Advanced/Cool kid hacker mode) - Clone the repo to your PC with git#

Note

This method involves cloning the repository from the command line using git.

It’s rather more advanced, but it will provide XP in the powerful magicks of git and ‘command line’/’terminal’ usage - which are important skills to master if you want to be a fancy pants comp sci hacker type 👽

  • Clone the repository via Git and the command line

  • Open your favorite command line interface (CLI)

    • Mac/Linux -

      • press Command + space and search for and open a program called Terminal

    • Windows

      • Press Windows key and search for/openCommand Prompt

  • Type git and press enter to check if you have git installed

  • Navigate to the place you want to download the repository with cd (‘change directory’) commands

    • Enter this command to download the repo to your computer

git clone  https://github.com/Biol2299-Matthis-Fall2022/Biol2299-Matthis-Fall2022

3. Open the ipynb file in VS Code#

Note

Usually, we would want to open the entire folder in the software IDE (e.g. VS Code or PyCharm) rather than openning a single ipynbfile.

…but this option is similar and I’m tired of writing this how to guide lol

In VS Code, in the top bar (aka the Menu bar)

  • File > ‘Open File’

    • Select/Open the freemocap_center_of_mass_analysis.ipynb file in the folder you downloaded/cloned in Step 2

Note

The path to t will be called something like:

[path_to_the_location_of_the_repo]/Biol2299-Matthis-Fall2022\jupyter_book/jupyter_ipython_notebooks/freemocap_center_of_mass_analysis.ipynb

where path_to_the_location_of_the_repo is, like, the path to the location of the repository on your computer.

For me, it looks like:

C:\Users\jonma\OneDrive\Desktop\Biol2299-Matthis-Fall2022\jupyter_book\jupyter_ipython_notebooks\freemocap_center_of_mass_analysis.ipynb

Success?!

If all went well, your VS Code window will look roughly similar to the equivalent page on the lab website:

https://biol2299-matthis-fall2022.github.io/Biol2299-Matthis-Fall2022/jupyter_ipython_notebooks/freemocap_center_of_mass_analysis.html

4. Click on the Run All button in the top bar#

  • Just select defaults and/or say ‘Yes’ to any prompts that pop up

Did it work?#

Probably not, honestly lol.

I feel like I’m probably missing some stpes here, so it’ll take some work to make this how-to actually viable.

Also, at the very least, you’ll need to remove the:

from google.colab import drive
drive.mount('/content/drive')

…part and alter the freemocap_data_folder_path variable to point towards the data folder (which you’ll also need to’ve downloaded onto your computer)

We’ll get there 😅