1. Installing Python Libraries

Installation of libraries needed for this book

3. Open a command line:

   • On Windows PCs, press the Windows key, then type cmd and press Enter.
   • On Macs, hold the “command” key, press the space bar, and type Terminal, then press “return.”

4. Your base Python installation includes the program pip to install packages.

   • On Windows PCs, the command for pip is just pip
   • On Macs, the command for pip is most often pip3 In the command line that you just opened type the appropriate command, which should give you an output that looks like:

   C:\Users\Chris>pip
   
   Usage:
     pip <command> [options]
   
   Commands:
   install                     Install packages.
   download                    Download packages.
   uninstall                   Uninstall packages.
   freeze                      Output installed packages in requirements format.
   inspect                     Inspect the python environment.
   list                        List installed packages.
   show                        Show information about installed packages.
   check                       Verify installed packages have compatible dependencies.
   config                      Manage local and global configuration.

   If you get this, or something like it, then pip is working correctly and you are ready to install packages. If not, you will need to troubleshoot.

5. You install packages with pip by typing pip install <package_name> (for Macs, pip3 install <package_name>). Type the following command, using pip/pip3 as appropriate: pip install spyder numpy scipy plotly lmfit rdkit python-docx openpyxl pillow codechembook This may take a few minutes.

6. Next, you will need to install a package called “kaleido” that handles outputting images of plots. You should use a different version depending on your computer:

   • On a Windows PC, pip install kaleido
   • On a Mac, pip3 install kaleido

7. Type pip list (on Macs, pip3 list) to find out which versions of the packages you have. Check to make sure that the following packages are listed and their version numbers are at least:

   • numpy (version 1.26.4 or greater - see note if your version starts with 2[^3])
   • scipy (version 1.13.1 or greater)
   • plotly (version 6.1.0 or greater)
   • spyder (version 5.5.1 or greater)
   • kaleido (version 1.0.0 or greater)

8. Type spyder into the command line to start up the Spyder IDE, and ensure that it opens. If it does, then all should be well, and you can close it. If not, you will need to troubleshoot.¹