daeh/comosoco-env

PPL environment for the course "Computational Models of Social Cognition"

Computational Models of Social Cognition (CoMoSoCo) - Python Environment

This repository contains a starter Python environment for running Jupyter notebooks used in the Computational Models of Social Cognition course.

Environment Setup

For this course, you need a Python environment that lets you run Jupyter Notebooks with memo models. While this guide suggests creating an environment that matches the one I'll be using for the tutorials, you can also use a more minimal setup. As long as you can successfully run notebooks like comosoco/installation-test.ipynb, your setup should be sufficient.

Install Homebrew (MacOS only)

Homebrew is a package manager for MacOS that simplifies software installation and management.

Follow the installation instructions on https://brew.sh

Verify the installation:

brew --version

I can't or don't want to use homebrew!

No problem, it just makes it easier to install and remove things on MacOS.

Install git

git is a version control system that helps manage code. Here's how to install it:

With Homebrew:

brew install git

Without Homebrew:

Follow the installation instructions on https://git-scm.com/download/win

Verify the installation:

git --version

I can't or don't want to use git!

But git is great! Ok, though, you can skip it for now and download the repository directly as a ZIP file (see "Getting the Repository" section below).

Install uv

Astral uv is a fast Python package installer that we'll use to set up the environment.

With Homebrew:

brew install uv

Without Homebrew:

Follow the install instructions on https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation/

Verify the installation:

uv --version

I can't or don't want to use uv!

Ok, we can work around that.

Install Task (MacOS only)

Task is a task runner that simplifies common commands. While Task is not specific to MacOS, at the moment this repository only supports Task on MacOS.

With Homebrew:

brew install go-task

Without Homebrew:

Follow the installation instructions on https://taskfile.dev/installation/

Verify the installation:

task --version

I can't or don't want to use Task!

No problem, it's just for convenience.

Install Visual Studio Code

VS Code is the recommended editor for this course:

1. Download VS Code from https://code.visualstudio.com
2. Install the downloaded file

I can't or don't want to use VS Code!

You can use any editor that supports Jupyter notebooks, but this README only gives instructions for VS Code.

Clone this repository

Choose one of these methods:

Option 1: Fork and Clone (Recommended)

1. Create a GitHub account if you don't have one
2. Go to this repository https://github.com/daeh/comosoco-env
3. Click the "Fork" button in the top-right corner
4. Clone your fork:

   git clone https://github.com/YOUR-USERNAME/comosoco-env.git
   cd comosoco-env

Option 2: Direct Clone

git clone https://github.com/daeh/comosoco-env.git
cd comosoco-env

Option 3: Direct Download

1. Visit https://github.com/daeh/comosoco-env
2. Click the green "Code" button
3. Select "Download ZIP"
4. Extract the ZIP file
5. Navigate to the comosoco-env folder in your terminal

Installing the Environment

Make sure you're in the comosoco-env directory, then choose one method:

Option 1: Using Task (Easiest, MacOS)

task install

Option 2: Using uv

uv sync

Option 3: Using pip

1, Make a virtual environment:

python -m venv .venv

2. Activate the environment:

MacOS/Linux:

source .venv/bin/activate

Windows (Command Prompt):

.venv\Scripts\activate.bat

Windows (PowerShell):

.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1

3. Install packages:

pip install -r requirements-standard.txt

If you encounter issues, try using requirements-minimal.txt instead:

pip install -r requirements-minimal.txt

Setting up VS Code

1. Open the VS Code application

2. Open VSCProject.code-workspace

   

   • You should see that the window name is "comosoco"

     

3. When prompted, install recommended extensions

   

   • Troubleshooting: If you don't see a prompt to install the recommended extensions, make sure you've correctly open the VSCProject.code-workspace file. You should see "comosoco" as the window name.

   • Troubleshooting: If you're sure you have the workspace open, you can manually install the extensions by searching for @recommended in the Extension Pane

     

4. Open comosoco/installation-test.ipynb

5. Set the Jupyter notebook to use the .venv python in comosoco-env

   • See below for screen shots.

6. Run all cells in the notebook - if they complete without error, your setup is working!