Using Google Colab#

If installing Python is not possible for you (i.e. you do not have administrator access on your machine), another option is using Google Colaboratory or “Colab” for short. Colab is a free cloud-based system hosted by Google that allows you to write and execute Python notebooks on Google servers. It almost identical to Jupyter Notebook in its functionality.

Colab

Colab might be the best option for you if you often use shared computers (e.g. at your university or library), though there are some things to keep in mind:

  • Google colab requires you to sign in through your Google account. Google accounts are free to create.

  • Accessing Colab requires a reliable internet connection. Because all Colab code is executed on Google servers, you might experience some latency in code execution.

  • All data must be imported into Google Colab through Google Drive (also free to use).

  • Colab runs on a time-shared system for free users, so if you are running a long computation and do not interact with Colab for a long period of time, your computation may be stopped. (in other words, you cannot leave your code to run “overnight” on Colab).

To use Google Colab, you will need to have a Google account. You can access Google Colab here.