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  • 2016-3: Tested on macOS 10.11.3

Install other softwares

  • Install XQuartz.

  • Install MacTeX.

  • Install Home brew.

  • Install Xcode and command-line tools.

      xcode-select --install
    
  • Include only the necessary paths in $PATH:

      bash$ echo $PATH
      /usr/local/bin:/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/usr/bin:/Library/TeX/texbin:/usr/X11/bin:/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/sbin
    

Install packages

brew install cmake

Install Python

  • Make sure you start from a clean and error-free state with Homebrew:

      brew doctor
    

Check outdated packages:

    brew outdated

Update:

    brew update
    brew upgrade

Add additional repositories and re-check:

    brew tap homebrew/science
    brew tap homebrew/python
    brew doctor
    brew update 
    brew upgrade
    brew doctor
  • Install Python:

      $ brew install python python3
      $ which python
      /usr/local/bin/python
      $ python --version
      Python 2.7.11
      $ which python3
      /usr/local/bin/python
      $ python3 --version
      Python 3.5.1
    
  • This actually also installs the package management system pip:

      $ which pip
      /usr/local/bin/pip
      $ which pip3
      /usr/local/bin/pip3
    

Install other system packages

    brew install libtiff 
    brew install libjpeg 
    brew install webp 
    brew install py2cairo
    brew install cairo
    brew install little-cms2
    brew install imagemagick --with-fftw --with-librsvg --with-x11
    brew install graphviz --with-librsvg --with-x11
    brew install qt pyqt
    brew install zmq
    brew install zeromq
    brew install gcc
    brew install freetype

Install Python packages

Warnings: * For the same software or library, install once using brew install <package> or pip install <package> but not both. The latter is usually more up-to-date. * Do not use sudo pip.

Install with brew

    brew install homebrew/python/matplotlib --with-cairo --with-tex

Alternatively, install with pip

  • Update:

      pip install --upgrade pip
      pip install pip-review
      pip3 install --upgrade pip
      pip3 install pip-review
    
  • Virtual environment:

      pip install virtualenv
      pip install virtualenvwrapper
    
  • IPython

      pip install "ipython[all]"
      pip3 install "ipython[all]"
    

Start IPython notebook server by:

    ipython notebook
    ipython3 notebook

and open http://localhost:8889/tree in Web browser.

  • Unit testing:

      pip install nose
    
  • Scientific computing:

      pip install numpy
      pip install scipy
      pip install sympy
      python -c 'import numpy ; numpy.test();'
      python -c 'import scipy ; scipy.test();'
    
  • Data management:

      pip install pandas
    
  • Natural Language Toolkit

      pip install nltk
    
  • Graphics related:

      pip install snakeviz
      pip install pyzmq
      pip install pygments
    

For matplotlib choose only one of the following:

    brew install homebrew/python/matplotlib --with-cairo --with-tex
    pip install matplotlib
  • Others:

      pip install q
    

Use Anaconda Python distribution and its package management and environment management

  • Should I use Anaconda?

Anaconda is itself a Python distribution including Python and lots of Python packages for scientific and technical computing. It also includes a package management system as well as a environment management system. It's fairly popular and convenient to install and use for beginners. But by using pip as the package management system the virtualenv and virtualenvwrapper packages as the environment management system, one can live without Anaconda. Roughly speaking, Anaconda is to Python what stack is to Haskell.

  • Install Anaconda (see instruction). Put Anaconda bin and man paths in $PATH in ~/.bashrc:

      export PATH=$HOME/anaconda/bin:$PATH
      export MANPATH=$HOME/anaconda/share/man:$MANPATH
    

Update

    conda update conda
    conda update anaconda
  • Create a new environment my-env:

      conda create -n my-env python=2.7 anaconda
    
  • Activate the environment:

      source activate my-env
    
  • Install and/or update packages:

      conda update conda
      conda update anaconda
      conda update pip
      conda update ipython ipython-notebook
    

Alternative to Anaconda, set up project-specific Python environment using virtualenv and system Python

Let's install specific packages and/or specific versions of some packages in isolated environment named my-env for a specific project.

  • Create a virtual environment named my-env:

      cd path/to/project
      virtualenv my-env
      git ignore my-env
    
  • Activate the virtual environment:

      $ source my-env/bin/activate
      $ echo $VIRTUAL_ENV
      /Users/meng/project/my-env
      (my-env)
    

Other packages

GraphLab, a machine-learning package

You can obtain a free 1-year license for educational purposes such as taking the University of Washington Machine Learning course series on coursera.org.

References

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