Anaconda is the most popular Python/R data science distribution which includes Python, the Jupyter Notebook, and other commonly used packages for scientific computing and data science such as numpy, pandas, scikit-learn, etc.

It is also the recommended way to install Jupyter Notebook.

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After reading this post, you will know:

Let’s get started.

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Install Anaconda on Mac OS X

1. Go to the Anaconda Website and choose Python 3.x graphical installer
2. Complete the installation steps
3. Verify your installation

Open your terminal and type the following command

python --version

If you chose Python 3.x installer, you should get an output similar to the following

Python 3.6.3 :: Anaconda, Inc.

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Start Jupyter Notebook

The Jupyter Notebook is an open-source web application that allows you to create and share documents that contain live code, equations, visualizations, and narrative text.

Using the command line

• Type the following command in your terminal

jupyter notebook

Using Anaconda Navigator

• Open Anaconda Navigator desktop tool
• Click the Jupyter launch button

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Run Python scripts

• Launch Jupyter Notebook
• Create a new notebook (.ipynb)
• Select New -> Python 3 from the top right menu
• Each notebook comprises cells where you can type code or text (markdown)
• Type the following python snippet inside your In [ ] cell

average = (12 + 5 + 4) / 3
print(average)

• To execute your first python script, hit Shift + Enter
• Note: Enter key will return a new line
• Click File -> Save and Checkpoint to save your work

Execution order of Jupyter cells

• When you create a new Jupyter notebook or open an existing notebook, a new kernel session is created
• If you have multiple cells of code blocks, it has to be executed in order
• Running cell 5 before cell 1 may throw an error because variables wouldn’t be defined
• To restart the current session, click Kernel -> Restart