TinyTorch/projects/setup

Project Setup: Environment & Onboarding

Welcome to Tiny🔥Torch! This setup project gets your development environment ready and introduces you to the workflow you'll use throughout the course.

🎯 Learning Objectives

By the end of this project, you will:

• ✅ Have a fully working development environment
• ✅ Understand the tito CLI workflow
• ✅ Know how to check system status and run tests
• ✅ Have implemented your first TinyTorch component
• ✅ Be ready to build the entire ML system

📋 Setup Checklist

Step 1: Environment Setup

Check Python Version

python3 --version  # Should be 3.8 or higher

Create Virtual Environment (REQUIRED)

# Create isolated environment for TinyTorch
python3 -m venv tinytorch-env

# Activate it (you'll do this every time)
source tinytorch-env/bin/activate  # macOS/Linux
# OR on Windows: tinytorch-env\Scripts\activate

# Verify you're in the virtual environment
which python  # Should show path with tinytorch-env

Install Dependencies

# Make sure you're in the activated virtual environment!
pip install --upgrade pip
pip install -r requirements.txt

Verify Installation

python3 -c "import numpy, matplotlib, yaml; print('✅ Core dependencies installed')"

⚠️ Important: Always activate your virtual environment before working:

source tinytorch-env/bin/activate  # Run this every time you start working

Step 2: System Verification

Test the CLI

python3 bin/tito.py --version
python3 bin/tito.py info

You should see the Tiny🔥Torch banner and system status.

Check Project Structure

python3 bin/tito.py info --show-architecture

This shows the system architecture you'll be building.

Step 3: Development Workflow

Learn Status Commands

# Check implementation status
python3 bin/tito.py info

# Test specific project (you'll use this constantly)
python3 bin/tito.py test --project setup

# Get help on any command
python3 bin/tito.py train --help

🚀 Hello World Implementation

Now let's implement your first TinyTorch component! You'll add a simple greeting function to the system.

Your Task: Implement a hello_tinytorch() function in tinytorch/core/utils.py

Step 1: Open the utils file

# Look at the current file
cat tinytorch/core/utils.py

Step 2: Implement the function

Add this function to tinytorch/core/utils.py:

def hello_tinytorch() -> str:
    """
    Return a greeting message for new TinyTorch users.
    
    Returns:
        A welcoming message string
    """
    return "🔥 Welcome to TinyTorch! Ready to build ML systems from scratch! 🔥"

Step 3: Test your implementation

# Run the pytest test suite
python3 -m pytest projects/setup/test_setup.py -v

# Or run the CLI test command
python3 bin/tito.py test --project setup

# Run comprehensive setup check
python3 projects/setup/check_setup.py

🧪 Verification & Next Steps

Run the setup checker

python3 projects/setup/check_setup.py

This will verify:

• ✅ Environment is correctly configured
• ✅ All dependencies are installed
• ✅ CLI commands work properly
• ✅ Your hello world function is implemented
• ✅ You're ready for the next project

Expected Output:

🔥 TinyTorch Setup Verification 🔥
==================================

✅ Python version: 3.x.x (compatible)
✅ Dependencies: All installed correctly
✅ CLI commands: Working properly
✅ hello_tinytorch(): Implemented correctly
✅ Test suite: All tests passing

🎉 Setup complete! You're ready to build an ML system from scratch.

Next steps:
  cd ../tensor/
  cat README.md

You can now submit this project:
  python3 bin/tito.py submit --project setup

📚 What You've Learned

• Environment setup: Python, dependencies, development tools
• CLI workflow: Using tito commands for testing and status checks
• Project structure: How code is organized in TinyTorch
• Implementation pattern: Where to write code and how to test it
• Verification process: Using automated checkers to validate your work

🎯 Next Project

Once setup passes, move to your first real implementation:

cd ../tensor/
cat README.md  # Start building the core tensor system

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Need help? Check the main README.md or ask in office hours!