Google Colab (short for Colaboratory) is a free, cloud-based Jupyter Notebook environment provided by Google. It lets you write, run, and share Python code directly in your web browser without needing any local setup, making it ideal for data science, machine learning, education, and quick prototyping.
Key Features:
- Zero Configuration: No downloads or installations—just open your browser and start coding.
- Free Resources: Access to CPUs, GPUs, and TPUs for compute-intensive tasks like training models.
- Collaboration: Real-time sharing and editing, similar to Google Docs.
- Integration: Seamlessly works with Google Drive, GitHub, and libraries like TensorFlow, PyTorch, and Pandas.
- Pre-built Notebooks: Explore examples for everything from basic Python to advanced AI projects.
- Go to colab.research.google.com and sign in with a Google account (it's required).
- Click "New Notebook" to create one from scratch, or browse the gallery for templates.
- Write code in cells (like print("Hello, Colab!")) and hit Shift+Enter to run it.
- Save to Google Drive or share via link.