1. Ensure that [Python](https://www.python.org/downloads/) is also installed on your computer. You will use Python for many data science and machine learning tasks. Most computer systems already include a Python installation. Some usages of Python, however, require one version of the software, whereas others require a different version. For this reason, it's useful to work within a virtual environment, or VM. There are useful [Python Coding Packs](https://code.visualstudio.com/learn/educators/installers) available for Windows and ready for integration with VS Code.
2. Make sure you have Visual Studio Code installed on your computer. Follow [these instructions](https://code.visualstudio.com/) for the basic installation. You are going to use Python in Visual Studio Code in this course, so you might want to brush up on how to [configure](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/modules/python-install-vscode/) VS Code for Python development.
3. Install Scikit-Learn (pronounce it `sci` as in `science`). Follow [these instructions](https://scikit-learn.org/stable/install.html). Since you need to ensure that you use Python 3, it's recommended that you use a pip virtual environment.
You are going to use **notebooks** to develop your Python code and create machine learning models. This type of file is a common tool for data scientists, and they can be identified by their suffix `.ipynb`.
In this folder, you will find the file `notebook.ipynb`. If you open it in VS Code, assuming VS Code is properly configured, a Jupyter server will start with Python 3+ started.