IPython Notebook Basics¶

Project directory¶

IPython Notebooks are just files (.ipynb) on your file system
The Notebook server is aware of Notebooks in a single directory, which we call the Notebook directory
If you cd to a Notebook directory and type:
```
  ipython notebook
```
you will see the Notebooks in that directory in the dashboard

Notebook files¶

Notebook files:

Are just that - files (.ipynb) on your file system
Contain JSON data

In [ ]:

from IPython.nbformat import current
with open('00 - Notebook Basics.ipynb') as f:
    nb = current.read(f, 'json')

In [ ]:

nb.worksheets[0].cells[0:5]

Embed code, Markdown text, LaTeX equations, images
Are version control friendly: post your Notebooks on GitHub
Can be viewed online by anyone at http://nbviewer.ipython.org

IPython Notebooks can also be exported to .py files (see "File:Download As" menu item). You can tell the Notebook server to always save these .py files alongside the .ipynb files by starting the Notebook as:

ipython notebook --script

You can import Notebooks from the main Dashboard or simply by copying a Notebook into the Notebook directory.

Exercise¶

Find a Notebook on http://nbviewer.ipython.org and Download it. Then import it into your running Notebook server using the Dashboard.

Overview of the UI¶

Dashboard
Notebook area and cells
Menu
Toolbar

Cell types¶

Code
Markdown
Raw text
Heading

Exercise¶

Create a new Notebook that has at least one of each cell type. Practice the following cell operations:

Moving up/down
Cut/Copy/Paste
Merge/Split

Keyboard shortcuts¶

Shift-Enter to run a cell
Ctrl-Enter to run a cell in place
All other keyboard shortcuts have the form: Ctrl-m ?
Show all keyboard shortcuts using Ctrl-m h

Exercise¶

Go back to that last Notebook and repeat some of those cell operations using keyboard shortcuts:

Inserting cells above/below
Delete cell
Move cell up/down
Cut/copy/paste cell
Changing cell types