Module 1 Setup (Check This First)

Module 1 runs on the machine Module 0's setup page built: a Unix terminal (WSL on Windows), uv, Python 3.12.8 inside the (bootcamp) environment at ~/dev/bootcamp, and VS Code opened on that folder with the Python extension. This module installs nothing into (bootcamp). This page confirms the machine is still right, fixes where Module 1's files live, and ends with a checklist that must pass before Lesson 1.1.1.

By the end of this page you will have:

  • Confirmed that (bootcamp) still answers with Python 3.12.8
  • One fixed home for every Module 1 script, and the rule for the few that get a folder of their own
  • Left (bootcamp) exactly as Lesson 1.7.3 expects to find it

If you are starting here

Module 1 assumes every step of Module 0's setup page. If you skipped Module 0 because you already work in a terminal, do that page first, start to finish, then come back here. It is free, and the checklist below fails without it.

Where Module 1's files live

Every script a Module 1 lesson asks you to write goes straight into ~/dev/bootcamp, saved under the exact name the lesson gives it, and runs from there with python3 followed by that name. That is why every traceback the lessons quote from a saved script begins with File "/home/goku/dev/bootcamp/, which on macOS reads /Users/goku/dev/bootcamp/. A lesson that needs a folder of its own, such as Lesson 1.7.3's ~/project or the capstone's ~/run-registry, creates it and says so.

DON'T:

  • DON'T scatter Module 1's scripts across folders of your own choosing. Every path a lesson prints would then differ from yours, and comparing your output against the lesson's is how you check your work.
  • DON'T run a script from another folder by its full path. A file it opens by a bare name, such as data.txt, is looked for in the folder you ran it from, not in the folder the script sits in.

Nothing to install into (bootcamp)

Every Module 1 lesson but Lesson 1.7.3 uses only what ships with Python itself, its standard library, so there is nothing to install before Lesson 1.1.1. The module's one install, numpy 2.5.2, a library for fast numeric arrays, happens in Lesson 1.7.3, inside a project environment that lesson builds, and (bootcamp) stays exactly as Module 0 left it.

(bootcamp) has no pip of its own, because uv venv builds an environment without one. A stray pip install with (bootcamp) active therefore fails, the shell reports that pip is not found, instead of changing the environment. Lesson 1.7.3 shows that an environment built with python3 -m venv does come with one.

DON'T:

  • DON'T install packages into (bootcamp) to get ahead. Lesson 1.7.3 starts from an environment without numpy, and its exercises are built on that.
  • DON'T reach for sudo when an import fails in Module 1. Until Lesson 1.7.3 everything runs on the standard library and your own files, so a ModuleNotFoundError means a misspelled name or a file saved in another folder.

Every session starts the same way

Open VS Code on ~/dev/bootcamp, open its built-in terminal, and look at the prompt. It must start with (bootcamp). If it does not, activate the environment:

cd ~/dev/bootcamp && source .venv/bin/activate

Setup checklist (pass ALL of these before Lesson 1.1.1)

Open a fresh terminal, then run:

cd ~/dev/bootcamp
source .venv/bin/activate
python3 --version                         # Python 3.12.8
which python3                             # /home/goku/dev/bootcamp/.venv/bin/python3 (macOS: /Users/goku/dev/bootcamp/.venv/bin/python3)
pwd                                       # /home/goku/dev/bootcamp (macOS: /Users/goku/dev/bootcamp)
python3 -c "print('ready for Module 1')"  # ready for Module 1

Your prompt must show (bootcamp) the whole time, and every line of Module 0's setup checklist must still pass as well. If any line fails, Module 0's setup page is where it gets fixed. Do not start Lesson 1.1.1 until all of them pass.