Software

Python

We will spend >90% of our coding time in Python.

To set up your environment, see: Installing the environment.

QGIS

QGIS is a geographic information system (GIS) software with a GUI (point-and-click) interface that is free and open-source. It is the leading cross-platform GIS available today (Mac, Windows, and Linux).

QGIS is a fantastic tool if you want to interact a lot with your map: zooming around, adding and editing layers, etc.

We begin using it in the very first lab (Countries and threatened species with QGIS) of EE 508. It’s a great tool for “looking at” the spatial data in its geographic context (satellite imagery, Google Maps, etc.). You can use it throughout the course.

Download QGIS and install it.

R & RStudio

R is a programming language for statistical computing and data visualization.

We’ll use a bit of R in Lab 4, because it has (or at least had) the better matching packages.

If you have no experience in R, no worries: the basics you need for Lab 4 are quickly explained.

Download R and RStudio and install both.

Plain-text editor

You will need an editor that can edit and write plain text (no formatting) to edit code, config files, and some data files (.csv.).

If you don’t have one yet, make sure you get one. There are many options.

For lightweight all-purpose editing, I use the free Sublime Text.