It is stated in Python documentation here that:
By default, the libraries are searched in prefix/lib/pythonversion and exec_prefix/lib/pythonversion, where prefix and exec_prefix are installation-dependent directories, both defaulting to /usr/local.
But when I looked into my /usr/local directory, what I found was a folder named python2.7. I did install python3.5 not python2.7 on my device (MacBook mid 2012).
You could use sys module to find that.
import sys
print sys.path
Ouput like:
['', '/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/mccabe-0.3.1-py2.7.egg', ...
Mac comes with a default Python 2.7 installation. Your installation did not remove python2.7. Probably also the reason why the system libraries are not under usr/local.
You never state how you attempted to install Python 3.5 onto your MacBook, depending on the installation options you used while building the Python source (or the bundle you downloaded) the install location could be different from the defaults. If you provide further details on your installation method, it will be easier to answer all aspects of your question.
As far as I can tell, Apple does not use the installation defaults to provide Python with OSX. On my OSX El Capitan machine, I can see the system Python library at /System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7 and the binary at /usr/bin/python (Python 2.7.x comes preinstalled for all recent versions of OSX).
It looks like the easiest way to get Python 3.5 on Mac is to use MacPython which will install alongside the system version of Python (as you should not alter the default system version of Python or risk breaking OSX). It installs some helper applications into your Finder's Applications directory and installs the library files to /System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.5. Since you will have more then one version of Python installed, you would also need to put some effort into making sure your scripts are using the proper version.
If you have a /usr/local/python2.7 directory, that sounds like something that was previously installed by a user. If I remember correctly, OSX does not normally use /usr/local for system software.
Hope that helps
I decided today I better download python 3.4. So I go to the python/downloads page and do that. Now I am trying to make a new virtualenv using my new python module, mkvirtualenv -p python3.4 sandbox, but I get an error that it can't find my python executable.
The executable /Users/croberts/python3.4 (from --python=/Users/croberts/python3.4) does not exist
This is understandable, but I can't figure out where it is. The old versions of python are in /usr/bin/ but the new one didn't get installed there. How do you search for where a program is using the terminal?
According to the ReadMe.txt bundled with the installer, Python installs default to /Library/frameworks/Python.framework. I just did a test install and it ended up here specifically:
/Library/frameworks/Python.framework/versions/3.4/Python
Unless you changed the settings on the installer, that's where it should live. (If you installed it from source, I'd assume you'd know where you put it.) Something to note is that if you use Homebrew (and possibly other OSX package managers like MacPorts, though I haven't used it), installing Python through the PPC installer will cause a warning:
Warning: Python is installed at /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework
Homebrew only supports building against the System-provided Python or a
brewed Python. In particular, Pythons installed to /Library can interfere
with other software installs.
So if you do use Homebrew (and it's great), it's best to simply use brew install python3, which will put it into /usr/local/bin. Then you can alias python (or python3) to that version, instead.
How can I upgrade Python 2.7.6 to Python 2.7.7 on Windows? Should I install new version in a separate directory, change all appropriate environment variables and install all required third-party modules again?
No, you can install Python 2.7.7 on top of Python 2.7.6 . Just be careful to specify exactly the same installation directory you used for 2.7.6 .
In short yes, however it's a little bit complicated to change every time the environment variables and may be some incompatibilities. I recommend you to use virtualenv which allows you to run different versions of python with different modules.
Actually virtualenv is the best way to proceed...
Here i provide link on how to install virtualenv on windows
virtualenv on windows
I was trying to setup Django dev environment on Mac and arrived into a hell. It all started when trying to install PIL, which failed after trying 15 or so different recipes I found on blogs. So I wanted to install the Python, this time 2.7, and reinstall setuptools, easy_install, pip from scratch.
After just installing Python 2.7, and easy_install with setuptools for 2.7, this all in turn created such a mess that is unbelievable. Different version of Python are installed everywhere, easy_install is installed everywhere and points randomly to different python hashbangs (sometimes to #!/usr/bin, #!/usr/local/, #!/Library/...)
Now I can't even do easy_install pip, which I always could. So I'm already in a hell and I haven't even attempted to install MySQL yet.
My question finally is did anyone bump into such problems, it would help enough to know that I'm not alone.
Second, would it be easier to set up the entire environment on Ubuntu than it is on a Mac?
Thirdly, is there any guide that can really clearly explain how to set up but also tear down the stack for Python development on a Mac?
It wouldn't hurt to run a VM with vagrant. This post should tell you more:
http://stevelosh.com/blog/2011/06/django-advice/
Of course using virtualenv should also help alleviate some of these issues.
I've gone through the same hell 2 weeks ago :)
I needed to make working python 2.7 and virtualenv on OSX 10.6.8.
You haven't mentioned virtualenv in your question but I strongly recommend it. That way you minimize amount of globally installed packages. Everything is... cleaner.
My idea is to only have following things globally:
python (from brew)
pip (via easy_install)
virtualenv (via pip)
virtualenvwrapper (via pip)
other through either virtualenv or buildout
I've just checked and pip PIL installs fine within my virtualenv.
Here are notes from this battle (gist.github.com):
#NOTE: .pydistutils.cfg seems to be not compatible with brew install python
#areas I needed to clean before installation
#clean up ~/Library/Python
#clean up .local
brew install python
easy_install pip
pip install virtualenv
pip install virtualenvwrapper
mkdir $HOME/.virtualenvs
Example .bash_profile:
#homebrew
export PATH=/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:${PATH}
# homebrew python 2.7
export PATH="/usr/local/share/python:${PATH}"
#virtualenv wrapper
export WORKON_HOME=$HOME/.virtualenvs
source /usr/local/share/python/virtualenvwrapper.sh
Good luck!
Second, would it be easier to set up
the entire environment on Ubuntu than
it is on a Mac?
To answer this question (though I never used Mac though): I never had problems setting up a python environment for Django development on Ubuntu. Though in any case you should go with the built-in Python version if possible. Attempting to install any other Python versions usually ends up messy. Luckily with Ubuntu 11.04 the standard version is already 2.7.
I'm using django development environment on a MAC OS X 10.8 with python 2.7. I don't use virtualenv ore some other things.
With all the respect can say that there is NO ANY PROBLEMS to develop on a mac. Mac is a UNIX like system and you've probably seen that all tools for developers have MAC ports.
As for the setup mess. It's a good idea to use virtualenv. As for PIL installation. I needed to compile it with TrueType. As I'm in common with UNIX like environments it was not heavy task for me to compile PIL from sources using GCC (it's already installed on a MAC)... There are some mess with Django to setup virtualenv... There are certainly lots of articles to setup it on Google.
I use Eclipse and write all my PYTHONPATH variables there. You can forget installing everything like in Linux and try not to make anymore mess with installed tools. Try to read THIS article if you feel like you're ok to use Eclipse for your development on a MAC. It also has a recipe to avoid mess with installation of many copies of Python and other dev utils.
Yes I have had problems with MacOS. I think rather than trying to figure it out I just switched to Ubuntu. I use a mac with Ubuntu installed in VMware Fusion. I have developed on both and prefer the Ubuntu because I'm just more comfortable with installing packages and the file structure.
I love using the VM because I'm never scared of having to start over. I can get a whole new OS installed and get the packages with what I use in just a few hours. Not to mention with 6month rollouts I can do complete installs of new versions instead of updates.
Depending on your production environment, it may be beneficial to use an OS that is similar, if you can install a package on ubuntu desktop, you already know how to do it on ubuntu server.
I'm starting to learn python and loving it. I work on a Mac mainly as well as Linux. I'm finding that on Linux (Ubuntu 9.04 mostly) when I install a python module using apt-get it works fine. I can import it with no trouble.
On the Mac, I'm used to using Macports to install all the Unixy stuff. However, I'm finding that most of the python modules I install with it are not being seen by python. I've spent some time playing around with PATH settings and using python_select . Nothing has really worked and at this point I'm not really understanding, instead I'm just poking around.
I get the impression that Macports isn't universally loved for managing python modules. I'd like to start fresh using a more "accepted" (if that's the right word) approach.
So, I was wondering, what is the method that Mac python developers use to manage their modules?
Bonus questions:
Do you use Apple's python, or some other version?
Do you compile everything from source or is there a package manger that works well (Fink?).
The most popular way to manage python packages (if you're not using your system package manager) is to use setuptools and easy_install. It is probably already installed on your system. Use it like this:
easy_install django
easy_install uses the Python Package Index which is an amazing resource for python developers. Have a look around to see what packages are available.
A better option is pip, which is gaining traction, as it attempts to fix a lot of the problems associated with easy_install. Pip uses the same package repository as easy_install, it just works better. Really the only time use need to use easy_install is for this command:
easy_install pip
After that, use:
pip install django
At some point you will probably want to learn a bit about virtualenv. If you do a lot of python development on projects with conflicting package requirements, virtualenv is a godsend. It will allow you to have completely different versions of various packages, and switch between them easily depending your needs.
Regarding which python to use, sticking with Apple's python will give you the least headaches, but If you need a newer version (Leopard is 2.5.1 I believe), I would go with the macports python 2.6.
Your question is already three years old and there are some details not covered in other answers:
Most people I know use HomeBrew or MacPorts, I prefer MacPorts because of its clean cut of what is a default Mac OS X environment and my development setup. Just move out your /opt folder and test your packages with a normal user Python environment
MacPorts is only portable within Mac, but with easy_install or pip you will learn how to setup your environment in any platform (Win/Mac/Linux/Bsd...). Furthermore it will always be more up to date and with more packages
I personally let MacPorts handle my Python modules to keep everything updated. Like any other high level package manager (ie: apt-get) it is much better for the heavy lifting of modules with lots of binary dependencies. There is no way I would build my Qt bindings (PySide) with easy_install or pip. Qt is huge and takes a lot to compile. As soon as you want a Python package that needs a library used by non Python programs, try to avoid easy_install or pip
At some point you will find that there are some packages missing within MacPorts. I do not believe that MacPorts will ever give you the whole CheeseShop. For example, recently I needed the Elixir module, but MacPorts only offers py25-elixir and py26-elixir, no py27 version. In cases like these you have:
pip-2.7 install --user elixir
( make sure you always type pip-(version) )
That will build an extra Python library in your home dir. Yes, Python will work with more than one library location: one controlled by MacPorts and a user local one for everything missing within MacPorts.
Now notice that I favor pip over easy_install. There is a good reason you should avoid setuptools and easy_install. Here is a good explanation and I try to keep away from them. One very useful feature of pip is giving you a list of all the modules (along their versions) that you installed with MacPorts, easy_install and pip itself:
pip-2.7 freeze
If you already started using easy_install, don't worry, pip can recognize everything done already by easy_install and even upgrade the packages installed with it.
If you are a developer keep an eye on virtualenv for controlling different setups and combinations of module versions. Other answers mention it already, what is not mentioned so far is the Tox module, a tool for testing that your package installs correctly with different Python versions.
Although I usually do not have version conflicts, I like to have virtualenv to set up a clean environment and get a clear view of my packages dependencies. That way I never forget any dependencies in my setup.py
If you go for MacPorts be aware that multiple versions of the same package are not selected anymore like the old Debian style with an extra python_select package (it is still there for compatibility). Now you have the select command to choose which Python version will be used (you can even select the Apple installed ones):
$ port select python
Available versions for python:
none
python25-apple
python26-apple
python27 (active)
python27-apple
python32
$ port select python python32
Add tox on top of it and your programs should be really portable
Please see Python OS X development environment. The best way is to use MacPorts. Download and install MacPorts, then install Python via MacPorts by typing the following commands in the Terminal:
sudo port install python26 python_select
sudo port select --set python python26
OR
sudo port install python30 python_select
sudo port select --set python python30
Use the first set of commands to install Python 2.6 and the second set to install Python 3.0. Then use:
sudo port install py26-packagename
OR
sudo port install py30-packagename
In the above commands, replace packagename with the name of the package, for example:
sudo port install py26-setuptools
These commands will automatically install the package (and its dependencies) for the given Python version.
For a full list of available packages for Python, type:
port list | grep py26-
OR
port list | grep py30-
Which command you use depends on which version of Python you chose to install.
I use MacPorts to install Python and any third-party modules tracked by MacPorts into /opt/local, and I install any manually installed modules (those not in the MacPorts repository) into /usr/local, and this has never caused any problems. I think you may be confused as to the use of certain MacPorts scripts and environment variables.
MacPorts python_select is used to select the "current" version of Python, but it has nothing to do with modules. This allows you to, e.g., install both Python 2.5 and Python 2.6 using MacPorts, and switch between installs.
The $PATH environment variables does not affect what Python modules are loaded. $PYTHONPATH is what you are looking for. $PYTHONPATH should point to directories containing Python modules you want to load. In my case, my $PYTHONPATH variable contains /usr/local/lib/python26/site-packages. If you use MacPorts' Python, it sets up the other proper directories for you, so you only need to add additional paths to $PYTHONPATH. But again, $PATH isn't used at all when Python searches for modules you have installed.
$PATH is used to find executables, so if you install MacPorts' Python, make sure /opt/local/bin is in your $PATH.
There's nothing wrong with using a MacPorts Python installation. If you are installing python modules from MacPorts but then not seeing them, that likely means you are not invoking the MacPorts python you installed to. In a terminal shell, you can use absolute paths to invoke the various Pythons that may be installed. For example:
$ /usr/bin/python2.5 # Apple-supplied 2.5 (Leopard)
$ /opt/local/bin/python2.5 # MacPorts 2.5
$ /opt/local/bin/python2.6 # MacPorts 2.6
$ /usr/local/bin/python2.6 # python.org (MacPython) 2.6
$ /usr/local/bin/python3.1 # python.org (MacPython) 3.1
To get the right python by default requires ensuring your shell $PATH is set properly to ensure that the right executable is found first. Another solution is to define shell aliases to the various pythons.
A python.org (MacPython) installation is fine, too, as others have suggested. easy_install can help but, again, because each Python instance may have its own easy_install command, make sure you are invoking the right easy_install.
If you use Python from MacPorts, it has it's own easy_install located at: /opt/local/bin/easy_install-2.6 (for py26, that is). It's not the same one as simply calling easy_install directly, even if you used python_select to change your default python command.
Have you looked into easy_install at all? It won't synchronize your macports or anything like that, but it will automatically download the latest package and all necessary dependencies, i.e.
easy_install nose
for the nose unit testing package, or
easy_install trac
for the trac bug tracker.
There's a bit more information on their EasyInstall page too.
For MacPython installations, I found an effective solution to fixing the problem with setuptools (easy_install) in this blog post:
http://droidism.com/getting-running-with-django-and-macpython-26-on-leopard
One handy tip includes finding out which version of python is active in the terminal:
which python
When you install modules with MacPorts, it does not go into Apple's version of Python. Instead those modules are installed onto the MacPorts version of Python selected.
You can change which version of Python is used by default using a mac port called python_select. instructions here.
Also, there's easy_install. Which will use python to install python modules.
You may already have pip3 pre-installed, so just try it!
Regarding which python version to use, Mac OS usually ships an old version of python. It's a good idea to upgrade to a newer version. You can download a .dmg from http://www.python.org/download/ . If you do that, remember to update the path. You can find the exact commands here http://farmdev.com/thoughts/66/python-3-0-on-mac-os-x-alongside-2-6-2-5-etc-/
I use easy_install with Apple's Python, and it works like a charm.
Directly install one of the fink packages (Django 1.6 as of 2013-Nov)
fink install django-py27
fink install django-py33
Or create yourself a virtualenv:
fink install virtualenv-py27
virtualenv django-env
source django-env/bin/activate
pip install django
deactivate # when you are done
Or use fink django plus any other pip installed packages in a virtualenv
fink install django-py27
fink install virtualenv-py27
virtualenv django-env --system-site-packages
source django-env/bin/activate
# django already installed
pip install django-analytical # or anything else you might want
deactivate # back to your normally scheduled programming