Code4Lib "Getting Ready for Workshops" Workshop 2016

Many of us go to conferences that offer code workshops, which is great! However, differences in hardware, operating system, and familiarity with things like package managers can make participation tricky.

There are some great code workshops being offered at Code4Lib this year! Our goal with this workshop is to get your laptop into shape to participate more fully, and provide a space to ask questions and troubleshoot.

Code of Conduct

Participants and instructors in this workshop are expected to follow the Code4Lib 2016 code of conduct. The local contact person for any concerns you may have during this workshop is TODO: fill in with info from committee.

Additionally, we will try to provide a good atmosphere for learning by implementing the following social rules, which were inspired by the Recurse Center social rules.

1. Support everyone's learning process.

• Please ask questions if you don't understand something.
• Don't "feign surprise" that someone isn't familiar with a certain concept or term.

2. Offer help constructively.

• Collaborating with other workshop participants to solve problems is encouraged.
• Respect that others may not want your assistance at the moment.
• Don't instruct people to "just" do X--this implies that X is simple, when it probably isn't!
• Don't correct people with "well, actually"--this invalidates what they just said.

3. Be respectful.

• Follow the Code4Lib code of conduct.
• Avoid stereotypes and biased language.

Getting Started

Here's the outline of what we'll cover.

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Download, install, and use a text editor
• Access and minimally navigate the command line
• Download and install a programming language
• Find their environment variables and edit them if necessary
• Download a VirtualBox and get it running

Getting the workshop files on your computer

1. Go to the top of this page and look for the "Download ZIP" button; the files will be available on a flash drive in case there are problems with the Internet connection at the workshop.
2. Click "Download ZIP" to download the files.
3. Unzip the files to a folder on your desktop or another location that's easy for you to find and type. You can rename the folder or keep it named "c4l-workshop-2016".

Pre-installation check

Is my operating system 32-bit or 64-bit?

Windows 7:

1. Open System by clicking the Start button, right-clicking "Computer," and then clicking "Properties"
2. The Properties sceen will show "System type: 64-bit operating system" or "32-bit operating system."

Mac OS (this should be less relevant for Mac users, but just in case):

1. Click on the Apple logo in the top menu and open "About this Mac"
2. Click "System Report" or "More Info"
3. In the "Hardware Overview" section you should see a processor listed -- unless you have an Intel Core Solo or an Intel Core Duo, you have a 64-bit OS.

Links

Please note: you need not install anything before the workshop! However, if you'd like to download installers beforehand, this may speed the workshop process and ease the strain on the wi-fi. We will have all the relevant installers and files on flash drives that we can also pass around in case of wi-fi troubles.

• Slides
• Sublime Text: https://www.sublimetext.com
• Python: https://www.python.org/downloads/
• VirtualBox: https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads