Julia's deranged Python writeup

python_tutorial_thingy.md

Okay so that lab was a lot of information very fast - and not very well explained... Here's a little writeup on how to set things up with as little hassle as possible

Mahmoud said to use anaconda, which is just python with some extra stuff that you don't need and will only make things more complicated imo

Instead I would recommend just downloading python directly. For some reason the code he provided only works on version 3.8, so if you already have python installed, I would recommend uninstalling all other versions first before installing 3.8 (Search for "add or remove programs", search for "python" or "anaconda" and uninstall everything)

1. Go to https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-310
2. Scroll down to "files" and download "windows installer (64-bit)"
3. Run the installer
4. Click the checkbox saying "add python 3.8 installer to path" This step is important! For some reason it is not default, and it will fuck you over if you forget
5. Click "install now"
6. When the installer is done, reboot your computer (might not be necessary, but sometimes causes fuckery if you don't)

Next you need to install some packages. To keep things simple, we're gonna install them directly instead of using a virtual environment like he suggested.

1. Open command prompt
2. Type pip install laspy and press enter
3. Type pip install open3d and press enter

Almost there! Next up, to make your life a bit less of a pain, download VS Code from https://code.visualstudio.com

Finally, download Mahmoud's code:

1. Go to https://github.com/Mahmoud-H97/3D-Data-Course/blob/main/notebook.ipynb
2. Click the tiny little download button somewhere in the top right

Then open that file in VS Code, it might prompt you to install some more stuff. Delete the cells with pip install open3d and pip install laspy

You shoooouuuuld be able to run stuff from here? This part is a little more vague and depends on your setup