Hello, and welcome! My name is Ben Lambert, and I’ll be your instructor for this course. 

A bit about me, I started developing software before the modern cloud existed. And during that time I’ve been fortunate enough to work on a wide variety of projects. Projects spanning programming languages, operating systems and cloud platforms. 

Through this course, I’m hoping to share some of the lessons I’ve learned during that time. Should you wish to ask me a specific question, you can do that with the contact details on screen. 

You can also reach support by using the email address: support@cloudacademy.com. And one of our cloud experts will reply.

This course is part of a series of content designed to help you learn to program with the Python programming language. This content is designed to introduce new developers to managing third-party packages using the Python package index and a tool called pip.

This course makes some assumptions about your current understanding of Python programming. Let’s review the prerequisites.

• This course assumes:

• That you’re familiar with the Python runtime.

• That you’re familiar with the Python language syntax.

• That you’re not yet familiar with how to install and manage third-party Python software.

The Python Package Index is a repository of community created Python software. By downloading and installing these packages we can instantly add new functionality to our code. Let’s review the topics that we’ll cover.

You’ll learn about:

• The Python Package Index.
• The tool used to manage packages called pip.
• The tool used to create isolated Python environments named venv.
• Considerations to be made before installing a third-party package.
• …more

Knowing how to install and manage third-party packages is an invaluable skill that can save hours of development effort.

When watching through the content in this course make sure to take the time to find the right playback speed for you. I like to watch content on 2x. However, if the pace is a little too fast or slow, you can adjust it with the video player.

As a content creator, the only way to improve content is through your feedback. Positive or negative, if you have any feedback you’d like to share you can do that by emailing support@cloudacademy.com.

Alright, if you’re ready to begin learning about managing third-party packages then I’ll see you in the next lesson!