Installation Guide¶

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

This guide covers setting up the development environment for running fractal visualization applications locally.

Prerequisites¶

For React Applications¶

Node.js (v16 or later)
npm (v8 or later)
Modern web browser with WebGL support

For Python Applications¶

Python (v3.8 or later)
pip or conda package manager
Optional: CUDA-capable GPU for accelerated computation

React Application Setup¶

1. Clone the Repository¶

git clone https://github.com/tyson-swetnam/fractal-notebooks
cd fractal-notebooks/react

2. Install Dependencies¶

npm ci

3. Start Development Server¶

npm start

The application will be available at http://localhost:33000.

4. Build for Production¶

npm run build

Available Scripts¶

Command	Description
`npm start`	Start development server
`npm run build`	Create production build
`npm run type-check`	Run TypeScript type checking
`npm run lint`	Run ESLint
`npm run test`	Run Jest tests

Python Environment Setup¶

Option 1: Using pip¶

cd fractal-notebooks
pip install -r requirements.txt

Option 2: Using Conda with Mamba¶

Install Miniconda

macOSLinuxWindows

curl -O https://repo.anaconda.com/miniconda/Miniconda3-latest-MacOSX-x86_64.sh
bash Miniconda3-latest-MacOSX-x86_64.sh

curl -O https://repo.anaconda.com/miniconda/Miniconda3-latest-Linux-x86_64.sh
bash Miniconda3-latest-Linux-x86_64.sh

Download from Miniconda website and run the installer.

Install Mamba (faster solver)

conda install mamba -n base -c conda-forge

Create Environment

cd fractal-notebooks/docs/notebooks
mamba env create -f streamlit-plotly.yaml

Activate Environment
```
mamba activate fractal-env
```

Running Streamlit Applications¶

After setting up the Python environment:

cd apps
streamlit run mandelbrot.py

Available Applications¶

File	Description
`mandelbrot.py`	Interactive Mandelbrot set explorer
`julia.py`	Julia set visualization
`branching_tree.py`	Self-affine branching tree generator
`pythagoras_tree.py`	Pythagoras tree fractal

Jupyter Notebook Setup¶

Install Jupyter Kernel¶

mamba activate fractal-env
mamba install -c conda-forge jupyterlab ipykernel
python -m ipykernel install --name fractal-env --display-name "Fractal Env"

Launch JupyterLab¶

jupyter lab

Navigate to the docs/notebooks/ directory to access the example notebooks.

GPU Acceleration (Optional)¶

CUDA Setup for PyTorch¶

For GPU-accelerated computation with PyTorch:

Linux/WindowsmacOS

Visit NVIDIA CUDA Toolkit
Select your OS and architecture
Follow installation instructions
Verify: nvcc --version

CUDA is not supported on macOS. Use Metal Performance Shaders (MPS) with PyTorch 2.0+.

Verify GPU Access¶

import torch
print(f"CUDA available: {torch.cuda.is_available()}")
print(f"Device count: {torch.cuda.device_count()}")
if torch.cuda.is_available():
    print(f"Device name: {torch.cuda.get_device_name(0)}")

Docker Setup¶

For containerized deployment:

cd docker
docker build -t fractal-app .
docker run -p 8501:8501 fractal-app

Troubleshooting¶

Common Issues¶

Node.js version mismatch

nvm install 18
nvm use 18

Python package conflicts

mamba env remove -n fractal-env
mamba env create -f streamlit-plotly.yaml

WebGL not available - Update graphics drivers - Try a different browser - Check browser WebGL support at get.webgl.org

Getting Help¶

Open an issue on GitHub
Check existing documentation in this guide