Complete noob and going nowhere :(

Notebook
1

Hi,
Just installed Python for the first time (not quite true, tried on another machine with same result), and following a tutorial using Jupyter Notebooks.

It appears the server is running ok, although opening the browser does seem slow.

  1. The ^New drop down does not show Python as an option, as does the tutorial
  2. If I choose New > Notebook, I am prompted to select a kernel, Python 3 (ipykernel) is shown. Selecting this, a new notebook opens, but the first line (do you call it a cell?) only shows two square brackets [ ], it does not show In [ ], as absolutely all youtube videos seem to have, also the tutorial I am following.

Did my install miss something?

C:\WINDOWS\system32>jupyter --version
Selected Jupyter core packages…
IPython : 8.20.0
ipykernel : 6.29.0
ipywidgets : not installed
jupyter_client : 8.6.0
jupyter_core : 5.7.1
jupyter_server : 2.12.5
jupyterlab : 4.0.11
nbclient : 0.9.0
nbconvert : 7.14.2
nbformat : 5.9.2
notebook : 7.0.7
qtconsole : not installed
traitlets : 5.14.1

C:\WINDOWS\system32>python --version
Python 3.12.1

C:\WINDOWS\system32>pip3 --version
pip 23.3.2 from C:\Users\chrizk\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python312\Lib\site-packages\pip (python 3.12)

[W 2024-01-29 15:23:48.499 ServerApp] A _jupyter_server_extension_points function was not found in notebook_shim. Instead, a _jupyter_server_extension_paths function was found and will be used for now. This function name will be deprecated in future releases of Jupyter Server.
[I 2024-01-29 15:23:48.501 ServerApp] jupyter_lsp | extension was successfully linked.
[I 2024-01-29 15:23:48.509 ServerApp] jupyter_server_terminals | extension was successfully linked.
[I 2024-01-29 15:23:48.520 ServerApp] jupyterlab | extension was successfully linked.
[I 2024-01-29 15:23:48.529 ServerApp] notebook | extension was successfully linked.
[I 2024-01-29 15:23:49.371 ServerApp] notebook_shim | extension was successfully linked.
[I 2024-01-29 15:23:49.459 ServerApp] notebook_shim | extension was successfully loaded.
[I 2024-01-29 15:23:49.462 ServerApp] jupyter_lsp | extension was successfully loaded.
[I 2024-01-29 15:23:49.462 ServerApp] jupyter_server_terminals | extension was successfully loaded.
[I 2024-01-29 15:23:49.469 LabApp] JupyterLab extension loaded from C:\Users\chrizk\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python312\Lib\site-packages\jupyterlab
[I 2024-01-29 15:23:49.469 LabApp] JupyterLab application directory is C:\Users\chrizk\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python312\share\jupyter\lab
[I 2024-01-29 15:23:49.471 LabApp] Extension Manager is ‘pypi’.
[I 2024-01-29 15:23:49.473 ServerApp] jupyterlab | extension was successfully loaded.
[I 2024-01-29 15:23:49.482 ServerApp] notebook | extension was successfully loaded.
[I 2024-01-29 15:23:49.485 ServerApp] Serving notebooks from local directory: C:\Users\chrizk\OneDrive - Virgin Media#Useful
[I 2024-01-29 15:23:49.485 ServerApp] Jupyter Server 2.12.5 is running at:
[I 2024-01-29 15:23:49.485 ServerApp] http://localhost:8888/tree?token=adasdasasdddddddddd
[I 2024-01-29 15:23:49.486 ServerApp] http://127.0.0.1:8888/tree?token=adasdasasdddddddddd
[I 2024-01-29 15:23:49.486 ServerApp] Use Control-C to stop this server and shut down all kernels (twice to skip confirmation).
[C 2024-01-29 15:23:49.597 ServerApp]

To access the server, open this file in a browser:
    file:///C:/Users/chrizk/AppData/Roaming/jupyter/runtime/jpserver-12600-open.html
Or copy and paste one of these URLs:
    http://localhost:8888/tree?token=adasdasasdddddddddd
    http://127.0.0.1:8888/tree?token=adasdasasdddddddddd

[I 2024-01-29 15:23:49.871 ServerApp] Skipped non-installed server(s): bash-language-server, dockerfile-language-server-nodejs, javascript-typescript-langserver, jedi-language-server, julia-language-server, pyright, python-language-server, python-lsp-server, r-languageserver, sql-language-server, texlab, typescript-language-server, unified-language-server, vscode-css-languageserver-bin, vscode-html-languageserver-bin, vscode-json-languageserver-bin, yaml-language-server
0.00s - Debugger warning: It seems that frozen modules are being used, which may
0.00s - make the debugger miss breakpoints. Please pass -Xfrozen_modules=off
0.01s - to python to disable frozen modules.
0.00s - Note: Debugging will proceed. Set PYDEVD_DISABLE_FILE_VALIDATION=1 to disable this validation.
[E 2024-01-29 15:24:16.100 ServerApp] Uncaught exception GET /api/contents?content=1&1706541855728 (127.0.0.1)
HTTPServerRequest(protocol=‘http’, host=‘localhost:8888’, method=‘GET’, uri=‘/api/contents?content=1&1706541855728’, version=‘HTTP/1.1’, remote_ip=‘127.0.0.1’)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File “C:\Users\chrizk\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python312\Lib\site-packages\tornado\web.py”, line 1790, in _execute
result = await result

2

I suspect you doing things correctly but encountering the fact you are using more advanced tech than the videos you are using for reference, perhaps?

You state what yours doesn’t show. What does your ‘New’ List show?

If you go here and click the ‘launch binder’ badge there. You’ll get a temporary Jupyter Notebook 7.1 session start up in your browser via the MyBinder service and the ‘New’ dropdown will list:

  • Notebook
  • Terminal
  • Console
  • New File
  • New Folder

Is this what you see?

(Jupyter Notebook 7.1 is very cutting edge. You may be in something like 7.0.7 or slightly lower but things should look similar.)

The first line in a default code cell is the ‘Input’ area. That is where the ‘In’ you’ll see in the old tech comes from.

If you continue working where I sent you in that a temporary Jupyter Notebook 7.1 session and step through opening a new notebook using the ‘New’ menu. After you choose the Python 3 (ipykernel) as your kernel choice the notebook will open fully, and you’ll see Jupyter Notebook 7.1 doesn’t display that ‘In’. It has been streamlined because most people grasp the concept now and it doesn’t need to look like the IPython command line based console as much as it tended to in the past with the area for entering code readily apparent in the GUI due to other indicators where it wouldn’t be inherently clear in the more sparse console. (At least I think that is the some of the thinking behind the ‘cleaner’ look.) (For more background because understanding the underlying tech and history may help: IPython was developed to make Python more interactive and useful. It added magic commands and abilities that Python didn’t have but was still terminal based. Then the IPython notebook made IPython work in browsers so plots and other features could be interactive. Then when the IPython project added the ability to work with other language kernels it morphed further to the Jupyter project.)

The last few months in the Jupyter world have seen quite a bit of change. The bottom part of my answer to the SO post ‘New Jupyter Notebook Interface’ here lists some resources about some of these changes. And if you prefer your graphical user interface look more like the outdated things you are using, you can use NbClassic that is covered there. I would urger you as a new learner against though that choice may not be the best course of action. The future direction of Jupyter is Jupyter Lab and Jupyter Notebook 7+ (both built on related underlying tech), and so you’ll set yourself up better for your long term learning to adopt them now rather than later.

In general the medium of video suffers some drawbacks as way to learn about tech which tends to be in flux. Think of them as having a possibly short shelf life in which they are useful because they become outdated quickly as they age. Text based and image based documentation can be updated and kept in sync with progress much more easily.
I think if you look around the latest Jupyter Notebook documentation here, you’ll see it matches better what you see than your videos. (Again, I’m guessing here.)

1 Like
3

Thank you for your quick reply.
Yes, the New drop-down options are as you have guessed.
Really appreciate the time you have give to provide such a detailed answer.
I had stopped trying to progress with the tutorial, but you have given me the confidence to carry on.