Want a Head Start?

Three resources to get you prepared

1. Python- We use Python 2.7 for data manipulation and analysis. Here are some resources to get you started:
• Download Python for your computer www.python.org/download/releases/2.7
• You can use PyWin as a development environment: sourceforge.net/projects/pywin32
• Or, if you are familiar with Eclipse, use this plug in: marketplace.eclipse.org/content/pydev-python-ide-eclipse
• There is a nice Python tutorial here: docs.python.org/3/tutorial
2. MongoDB - We use MongoDB as our main NoSQL database
   • I have a short blog to get you started with MongoDB here: mongopython.blogspot.co.uk
   • Follow the Download link from here if you want to install it on your own machine: www.mongodb.org
   • The manual pages are useful: docs.mongodb.org/manual
3. Weka - Weka is a free data mining tool, which we use in the analytics course.
• You can download it and start to learn here: www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/ml/weka

We will teach you these tools thoroughly during the course, but if you are acquainted with them before you start, you'll find you learn more once you are here. We assume our students are numerate and that they have at least a little programming experience. We are not doing software engineering, but you should know how to write small programs. Get yourself up to speed with these links:

• The Little Introduction To Programming is a nice place to start: codingintro.com
• Codecademy: www.codecademy.com is very popular