I need to use the SciPy libraries inside the PyCharm IDE (on a Mac OSX Lion machine). The SciPy website writes that the simplest installation method for Mac users is to install Anaconda (or an equivalent distro). I used the Anaconda installer, and it created an anaconda directory in my home folder, where I find a lib/python2.7/site-packages directory with the required packages. However, PyCharm is not aware of all this and the SciPy import statements remain unresolved.
My question is then how to make PyCharm work with Anaconda?
I'm still coming to terms with the Python ecosystem and PyCharm, so take the following with a grain of salt, but after reading up a bit, I thought I'd write a detailed explanation.
During installation, Anaconda changes the default Python interpreter to ~/anaconda/bin/python. This interpreter is configured with a sys.path that defaults to the libraries in ~/anaconda/lib . Package managers like python's pip use the interpreter that's running them to determine the path in which to install packages, so after Anaconda is installed, all packages installed via pip or other methods will be placed somewhere inside ~/anaconda/lib. i.e. even without using something like virtualenv, every Python interpreter has its own ecosystem and running pip with different interpreters will install packages into different directories.
PyCharm handles all this in the Project Settings-->Project Interpreter-->Python Interpreters screen. To make PyCharm aware of the Anaconda distribution, you need to add the Anaconda python interpreter to the Project Interpreter-->Python Interpreters list and make it the default for the project. PyCharm will then locate all packages installed in Anaconda's interpreter ecosystem (~/anaconda/lib) and list them under packages in the lower pane. It will also prompt you to install setup_tools and pip for that interpreter, and once you do that you'll be able to use the install button in the lower pane to add more packages to the Anaconda ecosystem.
Once you've added the Anaconda interpreter, you can also use the virtualenv button from the toolbar on the upper pane to create a virtualenv that inherits from the Anaconda interpreter's environment. That way you can install new packages in a way that would not affect the global Anaconda distribution.
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Edit: It's working fine now, it seems there was just something weird going on with VSCode
I am writing a discord bot in Python using Gitpod (which has VSCode Browser as its editor). I have installed Pycord 2.0 in the workspace using pip (obviously) but VSCode doesn't seem to be recognising it. I also have the Python VSCode extension installed which adds a 'Run' to the editor when a python file is selected. It used to work just fine but since a month ago it stopped working and the 'Run Code' button is running some sort of Python installation where none of the modules I installed are there. It also doesn't show any code hints for the modules.
I have tried pip show py-cord and changing the selected VSCode python interpreter accordingly. I've also tried changing th interpreter and installing Pycord into that interpreter but none of that worked.
I am running Gitpod on an iPad 6 (model A1893, iPadOS 15.6.1) in Safari
Does anyone know what might be wrong?
Thanks :)
~ R2509
Many developers have multiple python versions installed, and multiple environments with the same python versions, but different libraries installed. Therefore, we need to specify which python compiler VSCode needs to use.
Check on the bottom right of your VSCode, there should be a number down there representing an installation of python.
Upon clicking on it, VSCode will open a window on the top part, allowing you to select which of the many pythons you have installed you want to use. Find the one where you installed your libraries, and you should be good to go.
Method one:
Use pip show Pycord to see where you installed the package Pycord
then choose that environment
Method Two:
Choose a python version you want to use ( Ctrl+Shift+P --> Python:Select Interpreter )
Create a new terminal activation environment
Install the package using pip install pycord in the new terminal
As a suggestion:
you can use a virtual environment to better manage python versions and various packages.
# Create a virtual environment named .venv
python -m venv .venv
# Activate this virtual environment
.venv\scripts\activate
I've been coding with R for quite a while but I want to start learning and using python more for its machine learning applications. However, I'm quite confused as to how to properly install packages and set up the whole working environment. Unlike R where I suppose most people just use RStudio and directly install packages with install.packages(), there seems to be a variety of ways this can be done in python, including pip install conda install and there is also the issue of doing it in the command prompt or one of the IDEs. I've downloaded python 3.8.5 and anaconda3 and some of my most burning questions right now are:
When to use which command for installing packages? (and also should I always do it in the command prompt aka cmd on windows instead of inside jupyter notebook)
How to navigate the cmd syntax/coding (for example the python documentation for installing packages has this piece of code: py -m pip install "SomeProject" but I am completely unfamiliar with this syntax and how to use it - so in the long run do I also have to learn what goes on in the command prompt or does most of the operations occur in the IDE and I mostly don't have to touch the cmd?)
How to set up a working directory of sorts (like setwd() in R) such that my .ipynb files can be saved to other directories or even better if I can just directly start my IDE from another file destination?
I've tried looking at some online resources but they mostly deal with coding basics and the python language instead of these technical aspects of the set up, so I would greatly appreciate some advice on how to navigate and set up the python working environment in general. Thanks a lot!
Python uses a different way of installing packages. Python has a thing named venv which stands for Virtual Environment. You install all of your packages in venv. Usually for each new project you make a new venv.
By using Anaconda on windows you install everything within the anaconda environment that you have specified.
python -m pip install "modulename" is a command that will install modulename to your default venv. You will be able to use this module when no other venv is specified. Here is the docs page. And here is a tutorial on how to use venv
By default python uses the same directory you have your code in. e.g. C:/Users/me/home/mypythonfile.py will run in C:/Users/me/home/ and will be able to access files in this directory. However you can use ../ to navigate directories or you can specify an absolute path to file you want to open e.g. with open("C:/system32/somesystemfile.sys") as file
Going over the technical differences of conda and pip:
So Conda is a packaging tool and installer that aims to do more than what pip does; handle library dependencies outside of the Python packages as well as the Python packages themselves. Both have many similar functionalities as well, you can install packages or create virtual environments with both.
It is generally advisable to generally have both conda and pip installed since there are some packages which might not be available with conda but with pip and vice versa.
The commands to install in both the ways is easy enough, but one thing to keep in mind is that
conda stores packages in the anaconda/pkgs directory
pip stores it in directory under /usr/local/bin/ for a Unix-based system, or \Program Files\ for Windows
You can use both pip or conda inside the jupyter notebook, it will work just fine, but it may be possible that you get multiple versions of the same package.
Most of the times, you will use cmd only to install a module used in your code, or to create environments, py -m pip install "SomeProject" here basically means that the module "SomeProject" will be downloaded in base env.
You could think of conda as python with a variety of additional functionalities, such as certain pre-installed packages and tools, such as spyder and jupyter. Hence, you must be precise when you say:
I've downloaded python 3.8.5 and anaconda3
Does it mean you installed python in your computer and then also anaconda?
In general, or at least in my opinion, using anaconda has advantages for development, but typically you'll just use a simple python installation in production (if that applies to you).
Anaconda has it's own package registry/repository . When you call conda install <package>, it will search for the package there and install it if available. You would better search it first, for instance matplotlib.
pip is a package manager for the Python Package Index. pip also ships with anaconda. Hence, in an anaconda environment you may install packages from either sources (either using pip install or conda install). For instance, pandas from PyPI and pandas from conda. There is no guarantee that packages exist in both sources. You must either search it first or simply try it.
In your first steps, I would suggest you to stick to only one dev env (either simple python or anaconda, recommend the second). Because that simplifies the question: "which python and which pip is executed in the cmd line?". That said, those commands should work as expected in any terminal, it be a simple cmd or an embedded one like in PyCharm or VS Code.
You could inspect that by running (on windows and linux at least):
which python, which pip.
Honestly, this is a question/answer that falls outside the scope of SO and for more info you would better check official websites, such as for anaconda or search for python vs anaconda blogs.
I had first installed python using the standard python distribution available on their official website and I would be using pip to install all necessary packages.
However, now I wish to use miniconda, since it is a better choice for data science.
But, it installs python along with It and I don't want to disturb my earlier setup of pip+Python.
Will installing miniconda affect my python installation.
Is there a way of installing it without disturbing the python installation?
I am on a Windows operating system.
You can safely install Anaconada (or Miniconda) on top of other Python installations. It goes into a completely different folder on your local disk. But leave the default installation options on default, especially don't add Python to your path.
The important thing is that you activate your environment before you use it via
conda activate
and then start Python from there (or let your IDE do that for you).
(base)> python
Without activatation conda doesn't work and calling python from the command prompt will start your 'standard installation' again.
The advantage of Anaconda is that it guarantees maximumum consistency for the 'scientific stack' and in case you are still missing some 3rd party packages you can always install them aditionally via `pip install' into an activated conda environment.
I have a system with certain python version and packages installed suing the distribution repositories. For some project (calculation) I need newer version the the packages. I am thinking of installing anaconda and use conda virtual environments. Will this broke programs that must use the system packages?
(note: I tried virtual enviroment, but I couldn't install a newver version of matplotlib, because of problems with pygtk)
No this will not break your system's python. As long as you don't tick the option "register miniconda as the default system python" (or whatever that option is called depending on your OS).
One of the key benefits of conda is that you can create isolated python environments, fully independent of each other.
I've got Pycharm 4 running on my Linux (Ubuntu 14.04) machine. In addition to the system python, I've also got Anaconda installed. Getting the two to play nicely together seems to be a bit of a problem... PyCharm provides some interesting integration for virtualenvs and pip, but the Anaconda Python distribution seems to prefer using its own conda tool for both activities.
Is there a relatively simple/painless way to be able to use conda in conjunction with PyCharm? Not just as an alternative interpreter i.e. point PyCharm at the Anaconda Python binary for a project interpreter, but to be able to create, source/activate and deactivate virtual envs, add/remove packages in those virtual envs, etc.
Or am I going to have to choose between using Anaconda (and having a more recent and up-to-date python than may come with the system), and being able to use PyCharm's features to their fullest extent?
I know it's late, but I thought it would be nice to clarify things: PyCharm and Conda and pip work well together.
The short answer
Just manage Conda from the command line. PyCharm will automatically notice changes once they happen, just like it does with pip.
The long answer
Create a new Conda environment:
conda create --name foo pandas bokeh
This environment lives under conda_root/envs/foo. Your python interpreter is conda_root/envs/foo/bin/pythonX.X and your all your site-packages are in conda_root/envs/foo/lib/pythonX.X/site-packages. This is same directory structure as in a pip virtual environement. PyCharm sees no difference.
Now to activate your new environment from PyCharm go to file > settings > project > interpreter, select Add local in the project interpreter field (the little gear wheel) and hunt down your python interpreter. Congratulations! You now have a Conda environment with pandas and bokeh!
Now install more packages:
conda install scikit-learn
OK... go back to your interpreter in settings. Magically, PyCharm now sees scikit-learn!
And the reverse is also true, i.e. when you pip install another package in PyCharm, Conda will automatically notice. Say you've installed requests. Now list the Conda packages in your current environment:
conda list
The list now includes requests and Conda has correctly detected (3rd column) that it was installed with pip.
Conclusion
This is definitely good news for people like myself who are trying to get away from the pip/virtualenv installation problems when packages are not pure python.
NB: I run PyCharm pro edition 4.5.3 on Linux. For Windows users, replace in command line with in the GUI (and forward slashes with backslashes). There's no reason it shouldn't work for you too.
EDIT: PyCharm5 is out with Conda support! In the community edition too.
Change the project interpreter to ~/anaconda2/python/bin by going to File -> Settings -> Project -> Project Interpreter. Also update the run configuration to use the project default Python interpreter via Run -> Edit Configurations. This makes PyCharm use Anaconda instead of the default Python interpreter under usr/bin/python27.
as per #cyberbikepunk answer pycharm supports Anaconda since pycharm5!
Have a look how easy is to add an environment:
Continuum Analytics now provides instructions on how to setup Anaconda with various IDEs including Pycharm here. However, with Pycharm 5.0.1 running on Unbuntu 15.10 Project Interpreter settings were found via the File | Settings and then under the Project branch of the treeview on the Settings dialog.
this might be repetitive.
I was trying to use pycharm to run flask - had anaconda 3, pycharm 2019.1.1 and windows 10. Created a new conda environment - it threw errors.
Followed these steps -
Used the cmd to install python and flask after creating environment as suggested above.
Followed this answer.
As suggested above, went to Run -> Edit Configurations and changed the environment there as well as in (2).
Obviously kept the correct python interpreter (the one in the environment) everywhere.