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02-014 - Additional Reading - Setting Up A Virtual Environment

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19 views

02-014 - Additional Reading - Setting Up A Virtual Environment

Uploaded by

Simon Strehler
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Setting Up a Virtual Environment

Additional Reading
Introduction
In this guide, we will walk you through the process of setting up a virtual environment
for your Python project using either the built-in venv module or the external virtualenv
package. Virtual environments isolate your project's dependencies, providing a clean
and self-contained environment.

We’ll explore the generation of a requirements.txt file to document and manage your
project's dependencies. Keeping this file up-to-date is crucial for ensuring a
reproducible development environment. By following these steps, you will be
well-equipped to initiate and maintain a Python project with best practices in mind,
fostering readability, consistency, and ease of collaboration.

Setting up a virtual environment


A virtual environment is a self-contained space in a computer system that isolates
software, thereby managing dependencies independently. Widely used in software
development, it ensures consistent and reproducible application behaviour across
different computing environments.

Using venv
Follow these steps to use the venv module (built into Python 3.3 and newer versions) to
create a virtual environment for your project:

1. Open a terminal or command prompt on your computer or in your IDE (such as


VS Code).

2. Use the cd command to go to the directory where you want to create your virtual
environment, for example:

cd your_path/to/your/project

3. Run the following command to create a virtual environment. Replace the second
venv with the name you want to give your virtual environment.

python -m venv venv

If you are using Python 3.3 or newer, you can use:

python3 -m venv venv

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4. Activate the virtual environment.

a. On Windows, use:

venv\Scripts\activate.bat

b. On Linux or macOS, use:

source venv/bin/activate

After activation, your terminal prompt should change to show that you are now
in the virtual environment. You should see something like this:

(.venv) C:\Users\your_path\to\your\project>

5. Use pip to install Python packages within your virtual environment.

pip install bcrypt


pip install cryptography

6. When you're done working in your virtual environment, you can deactivate it.

a. On Windows, use:

venv\Scripts\deactivate.bat

b. On Linux or macOS, use:

source venv/bin/deactivate

Using virtualenv
The virtualenv package is an external package we can use to create a virtual
environment for your project.

If you prefer using virtualenv, you need to install it globally.

1. Install virtualenv using pip. This is a one-time step.

pip install virtualenv

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2. Use the cd command to go to the directory where you want to create your virtual
environment.

cd your_path/to/your/project

3. Run the following command to create a virtual environment. Replace venv with
the name you want to give your virtual environment.

virtualenv venv

4. Activate the virtual environment.

a. On Windows, use:

venv\Scripts\activate.bat

b. On Linux or macOS, use:

source venv/bin/activate

After activation, your terminal prompt should change to show that you are now
in the virtual environment. You should see something like this:

(.venv) C:\Users\your_path\to\your\project>

5. Use pip to install Python packages within your virtual environment.

pip install bcrypt


pip install cryptography

6. When you're done working in your virtual environment, you can deactivate it.

a. On Windows, use:

venv\Scripts\deactivate.bat

b. On Linux or macOS, use:

source venv/bin/deactivate

Take note

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Remember to activate your virtual environment whenever you work on your project.
This ensures that the dependencies you install are specific to your project and don't
interfere with other projects or the system-wide Python installation.

Generating a requirements file


A requirements.txt file in a project serves as a crucial document outlining the specific
Python packages and their corresponding versions required for the project to run
successfully. This file captures the dependencies, allowing for easy replication of the
project's environment on different systems. Below you can see how to create a
requirements.txt file.

1. Activate your virtual environment (if you're using one):

source venv/bin/activate # On Linux/Mac


venv\Scripts\activate # On Windows

2. Run the pip freeze command to generate the requirements.txt file:

pip freeze > requirements.txt

This command lists all installed packages and their versions.

Here's an example of a requirements.txt file:

cryptography==42.0.2
bcrypt==2.26.0

You can customise the requirements.txt file based on your project's


dependencies. It's good practice to regularly update this file as you add or
remove dependencies in your project.

3. If you want to include only the packages needed for your project (excluding
development dependencies), you can use the pip freeze --exclude-editable
option:

pip freeze --exclude-editable > requirements.txt

This command will exclude packages installed in editable mode from the
requirements.txt file. Editable installations are often used during development
with packages installed in "editable" mode, e.g., using the command:

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pip install -e .

The “.” at the end of the command refers to the current directory, indicating that
the package in editable mode should be installed from the current project
directory. Excluding it ensures that only production dependencies are listed.

Summary
In conclusion, this guide has equipped you with the knowledge to kickstart your
Python project development in a structured and efficient manner. By embracing virtual
environments and the generation of a requirements.txt file, you will establish a solid
foundation for building scalable, maintainable, and organised applications.
Incorporating these best practices not only enhances the clarity and readability of your
code but also streamlines collaboration and ensures a smooth development
experience. As you continue on your coding journey, the skills and techniques outlined
here will contribute to the success of your Python projects, fostering a robust and
sustainable development workflow. Remember that, if you get stuck, you can contact
your mentor for help.

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