IPython notebooks

If you have browsed the Internet looking for information on Python, it is very likely that you have seen IPython notebooks. These are web pages with text, charts, and Python code in a special format. Have a look at these notebook collections at the following links:

• https://github.com/ipython/ipython/wiki/A-gallery-of-interesting-IPython-Notebooks
• http://nbviewer.ipython.org/github/ipython/ipython/tree/2.x/examples/

Often, the notebooks are used as an educational tool or to demonstrate Python software. We can import or export notebooks either from plain Python code or using the special notebook format. The notebooks can be run locally, or we can make them available online by running a dedicated notebook server. Certain cloud computing solutions, such as Wakari and PiCloud, allow you to run notebooks in the Cloud. Cloud computing is one of the topics of Chapter 11, Environments Outside the Python Ecosystem and Cloud Computing.