This week you will learn how to install and run two Python packages that will be helpful for building your data-driven text adventure:

1. Spyder IDE (Integrated Development Environment) - for writing Python
2. Pandas - for working with data

14.2.1 Spyder

When you installed Anaconda, you also installed the Spyder IDE. This is probably your best option for editing and testing Python scripts on a Windows system. On Linux and Mac, you might prefer Sublime Text. Both tools allow you to edit your Python code with state-of-the-art efficiency.

14.2.2 Pandas

You can install Pandas the same way you install most other Python packages, with pip install pandas from the command line. You can find more information about Pandas by searching on https://pypi.org/ and searching for the keyword ‘pandas’. And if you are searching for tutorials online about how to work with data using Pandas, you probably want to add the term pd.DataFrame to your search query. Most people abbreviate the name of their imported Pandas package as pd. And a Pandas DataFrame is like a combination of a dictionary of dictionaries (one dictionary per column) and a list of lists (2-d array). This means that Pandas is a great tool for working with tabular data with columns and rows. It’s great for linear algebra and storing data similar to how a database stores tables of data.

Video

To see Spyder and Pandas in action, watch this 30 min video.