Software

We will be using the following tools and apps:

• Stata

  • At some point I will hopefully transition to R but for now Stata is the preferred software for analysis
  • Please use Stata/MP as it is efficient when working with large data
  • Link ST3 with Stata https://github.com/mattiasnordin/StataEditor https://ezstata.weebly.com/install2.html is the easiest way to link the two
  • Install frequently used user defined commands

• Python

  • Python is a powerful programing language that has multiple uses, from data scraping to text analysis
  • Install Anaconda Distribution

• ArcMap

  • Used for GIS and spatial analysis
  • If you don't have access to Arc, the open source alternative is QGIS

• Sublime Text

  • A good text editor can save hours during coding
  • Install ST3
  • Learn multi-line editing and shortcuts (such as Alt+F3)
  • Integrate ST with Stata and TeX and download frequently used packages

• LaTeX

  • LaTeX is an incredible typesetting program that creates pretty PDFs
  • Depending on the specific project we might need an online collaboration platform or work offline
  • Install MiKTeX and use LaTeX tools to integrate ST3 so you can use TeX offline
  • Please also sign up on Overleaf

• Git

  • Git is a version control system and GitHub is the service that people use to post their code in repositories.
  • Download and install Git
  • Please sign up on GitHub and download GitHub desktop as well
  • Students are eligible for a free upgrade so consider applying for it

• PDFs

  • Sumatra is a lightweight PDF viewer and doesn't take forever to load documents as Acrobat sometimes does
  • If you need to do gymnastics like split and merge files then use PDFsam Basic. Only get the basic version and do NOT check the 'install PDFsam Enhanced' when prompted during the installation process
  • Two good OCR software are: Solid Converter and ABBYY FineReader

• Q-Dir

  • A good file manager is also extremely useful
  • I use Q-Dir but there might be better ones out there

• Cloud storage

  • Install Dropbox
  • Familiarize yourself with the folder organization plan
  • ISB also has free OneDrive storage

• Bibliography management

  • I used JabRef for a long time but recently converted to Paperpile based on recommendations by Gentzkow and Shapiro
  • Paperpile works only on Chrome (as of July 2019) and its so good that it convinced me to move from Firefox to Chrome.
  • Sign up for Paperpile using coupon code AADITYADAR_20. The coupon gets you a 20% discount (and if I get 10 people to sign up, my subscription becomes free)

• Note taking

  • Google Keep is good but it's not available for offline use. Please install Evernote
  • Install Webclipper extension
  • Use webclipper to save interesting news articles (in "simplified article" format)

• Chat

  • Install Teams. It isn't as good as WhatsApp but it helps to keep professional and personal communication separate Install Slack
  • Optional: Install WhatsApp on PC/Mac

• Other software

  • Wget for downloading files. It's particularly helpful to spider a website (see example #17)
  • Putty (for PC). This is needed to connect to AWS or the supercomputer MobaXterm is a SSH client and terminal for Windows with an X11 server. Installation instructions
  • WinSCP (for PC). Allows to transfer files between local and remote computer easily
  • 7-zip. Open source file archiver that doesn't bug you with pop ups and can compress/uncompress a wide range of formats.

• Note on screenshots tools

  • Using a screenshot tool (preferably one which allows you to add markup quickly will be useful)
  • Use Windows default's Snip and Sketch (Win+Shift+S)
  • You could also use Jing or Snagit

• Final words:

  • Install an antivirus
  • Keep your computer updated
  • Watch out for software bloat
  • Delete software that you don't use