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Python Dev Environment Setup Guide

The Python installation process is platform-specific (ie: Windows vs MacOS vs Linux), but installing 3rd-party packages via the PIP package management system is common for all platforms.

A word on virtual-environments… while virtualenv’s are a ‘best practice’, we’ll keep things simple and just work with one Python environment. (FYI, virtualenvs allow you to install 3rd-party packages in a lightweight ‘virtual environment’, so you can use different versions of 3rd-party package for your various projects).

Before proceeding with installation instructions, check and see if you already have a recent version of Python3 installed… In a terminal type:

$ python3 —version

If it returns an error then you need to install Python3. If it shows a version older than Python 3.7 it is recommended to install the latest Python3.

Python3 Installation

MacOS

MacOS comes with Python pre-installed.
Great, please don’t ever use it for development!
Why not? Because MacOS uses this ‘System Python’ instance and needs it for several OS operations & tools. If you were to corrupt this installation, you can cause system-level problems.
And it’s old (Python 2)…

Instead, install a recent version, eg: the Python 3.10 installer:
https://www.python.org/ftp/python/3.10.0/python-3.10.0-macos11.pkg

Detailed installation instructions:
https://docs.python.org/3/using/mac.html

Once finished running the installer your Mac will have:

  • a Python folder with some development tools in your Applications directory
  • a Python executable & packages:
    • /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework
      • this path is added to your CLI shell path
      • a symlink is added to /usr/local/bin

Windows

Detailed installation instructions: https://docs.python.org/3/using/windows.html

Using the ‘Microsoft Store’ is probably the best option.

Linux

As with MacOS, Linux comes with Python pre-installed. And like with MacOS, you probably don’t want to use that version, primarily because it’s likely an old verion.

Assuming you’re using a Debian variant (Ubuntu, Mint, etc) you can use the ‘deadsnakes’ ppa to get more recent Python3 versions. See instructions here:
https://computingforgeeks.com/how-to-install-python-on-ubuntu-linux-system/

Check that the Python3 installation was successful

# Display installed Python version (eg: 3.10)
$ python3 --version

Documentation

Python Language Reference Documentation

To learn more about the Python language, syntax, semantics:
https://docs.python.org/3/reference/index.html#reference-index

Python Standard Library Documentation

Python’s built-in Standard Library offers an extensive range of functionalities:
https://docs.python.org/3/library/index.html

PIP Install 3rd Party Packages

To add additional 3rd-party packages (eg: Numpy, Pandas, Matplotlib, Jupyter Notebook, etc) use PIP, Python’s default package manager.

Example usage

# Print pip basic usage
$ pip help

# Print pip help for ‘command’ (eg: install)
$ pip help <command>

# List all installed packages
$ pip list

# Install pandas package
$ pip install pandas

# Install packages in requirements.txt file
$ pip install -r requirements.txt

Packages to install

Some suggested data-science / scientific computing packages

$ pip install pandas numpy jupyter nb-extensions