Your Data Science Student Toolkit

Undergraduate • macOS

Python, notebooks, SQL, visualisation and research tools for data science students.

Who this toolkit is for

For data science students working with data, statistics and models.

What level are you studying?A-Level / College Undergraduate Postgraduate Professional / Certification Other

What computer do you use?Windows macOS Linux Chromebook Not sure

Essential (3)

Core tools that are broadly useful.

Python

Python
Open Source
Why you may need this: Analyse data with libraries such as pandas.
Homebrew (verified)
```
brew install python@3.13
```
Details

Notebooks

JupyterLab
Open Source
Why you may need this: Explore data and share analysis.
Homebrew (verified)
```
brew install jupyterlab
```
Details

Research / Citation

Zotero
Open SourceAlso on iPhone/iPad
Why you may need this: Organise research sources and generate citations for coursework and dissertations.
Homebrew (verified)
```
brew install --cask zotero
```
Details

Recommended (3)

Useful for particular parts of the work or course.

Code Editor

Visual Studio Code
Free
Why you may need this: Edit scripts and notebooks.
Homebrew (verified)
```
brew install --cask visual-studio-code
```
Details

SQL

DBeaver Community
Open Source
Why you may need this: Query databases with SQL.
Homebrew (verified)
```
brew install --cask dbeaver-community
```
Details

Version Control

Git
Open Source
Why you may need this: Version code and analyses.
Homebrew (verified)
```
brew install git
```
Details

Specialist / Optional · Show specialist tools (3)

Consider these for particular modules, tasks or environments.

Data Analysis

R
Open Source
Why you may need this: Statistics with R.
Homebrew (verified)
```
brew install r
```
Details
RStudio Desktop
Open Source
Why you may need this: An IDE for R.
Homebrew (verified)
```
brew install --cask rstudio
```
Details

Containers

Docker Desktop
Freemium
Why you may need this: Reproducible environments.
Homebrew (verified)
```
brew install --cask docker-desktop
```
Details

Course requirements vary. Software requirements differ between schools, colleges, universities and modules. Check your course materials before purchasing software.

Build your student setup

Build My Setup lets you add or remove apps, see why each is included and, where verified packages exist, get one install command. Nothing is installed automatically.

Build my Data Science setup