Pip Installing Dependencies Into Conda Envs

I prefer to use Conda because once installed it works essentially the same everywhere. Including Windows.

Step 1: Create a Virtual Environment

conda create -n credible python=3.10

After agreeing to install some dependencies, it places them in an out-of-the way location. Here’s where they are on my work, personal laptops, and a 2018-era Windows laptop I sometimes test on:

• /Users/drg/opt/miniconda3/envs/
• /Users/danny/opt/miniconda3/envs/
• c:\Users\danielandaudrey\.conda\envs

I can get the list of current envs thus:

$ conda env list
base                  *  /Users/drg/opt/miniconda3
credible                 /Users/drg/opt/miniconda3/envs/credible
system                   /Users/drg/opt/miniconda3/envs/system
that                     /Users/drg/opt/miniconda3/envs/that
just                     /Users/drg/opt/miniconda3/envs/just
works                    /Users/drg/opt/miniconda3/envs/works
everywhere               /Users/drg/opt/miniconda3/envs/everywhere

Step 2: Activate the Virtual Environment

conda activate credible

This prefixes the CLI shell with (credible), exactly like venv or virtualenv.

(credible)

Step 3: Install Dependencies Using Pip

Just like many any other virtual environments for Python (Poetry and pipenv being the )

(credible) pip install typer

That’s right. I’m using pip to install packages in a conda env. Conda works great with pip. Has worked great with pip for years.

Questions

Because I know you have them.

1. What about conda install for dependencies?

I rarely use conda install on MacOS or Linux. On Windows, conda install is sometimes useful because it handles non-python binaries that otherwise require Docker, Chocolately, or other tools.

2. Why not pyenv-win instead of conda?

Reasons:

1. I always struggled to get pyenv-win to work on Windows
2. Didn’t handle non-python binaries well, requiring use of Chocalatey
3. Conda just works

3. Did you ever teach classes with Conda?

Yes. It was awesome when I used to teach. Conda is a universal installation system that works for everyone regardless of operating system. Once people got it installed we got to teaching instead of dealing with setup issues.

4. What about Docker instead of Conda?

My classes focused more on teaching Python and Django rather than Docker. Docker is a whole different world.

5. What does Audrey use?

Audrey uses pyenv and loves it. Taught people to use pyenv and pyenv-win.

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