Links: LIN353C introduction to computational linguistics

List of software we will use in the class

Python and Python packages:

• • We strongly recommend installing Anaconda, as that includes Python along with all Python packages we need.

    • If you install anaconda, you will have to add gensim. Here is a tutorial on how to add a package to Anaconda: https://docs.anaconda.com/anaconda/navigator/tutorials/manage-packages/#installing-a-package

    • Please do this, and choose to add gensim.

  • Alternatively, you can individually install:

    • Python: Any version >= 3.4 should be fine.

  • The Natural Language Toolkit.

    • Please follow the instructions here to download NLTK data. It is enough if you download the "popular" datasets, you don't need all.

  • Jupyter notebooks

  • scipy

  • gensim

To test your Python installation, use this Jupyter notebook.

We are using Slack for in-class discussions. Please see Canvas for the link to the class Slack space.

Using Jupyter notebooks

Jupyter notebooks that we use in class are listed on the class schedule page. Click on a Jupyter notebook link there to download the file. To access the notebook:

• • put the file in some directory

  • In anaconda, click "jupyter", then navigate to that directory with the notebook file, and select the file

  • Or, if you're not using anaconda, open a terminal, go to the directory where you put the notebook file, and type

  • jupyter notebook

  • This will open a tab in your browser where you can select a notebook file to work with.

For info on how to format text and write code in Jupyter notebooks, see this Jupyter notebook.

Learning Python

Learning Python:

• • How To Think Like A Computer Scientist is a very good and accessible online Python textbook

  • A Python tutorial

General Python pages:

• • The Python library documentation

The Natural Language Toolkit:

• • The Natural Language Toolkit.

  • NLTK documentation.