Python package managers
Python, one of the most widely used programming languages, serves a multitude of purposes. 🐍 It stands out as a high-level interpreted programming language extensively employed in diverse projects, ranging from web applications to machine learning endeavors. But that's not all—Python finds its way into an array of projects, including 2D games, AI initiatives, mobile applications, and much more. 🚀 In this article, let's delve into the realm of Python package managers, the essential tools we regularly employ to download Python packages.
Python boasts several reliable package managers that efficiently handle the installation, management, and updating of Python packages. 📦 The spotlight falls on two primary package managers for Python:
You are going uncover in this article
- Unraveling Python Package Managers 📦
- Pip: Your Swift Ticket to Python Packages 🚀
- Conda: A Magical Elixir for Package Management ✨
- Pip vs. Conda: A Battle of Python Package Titans ⚔️
- Choosing Wisely: Which Package Manager Should You Use? 🤔
PIP
Pip is known as the default package manager for Python which we use to install almost every Python package and kind of other managing things like running scripts downloading Python modules and libraries and much more. It is always included with Python installations, whenever we download Python, PIP is always downloaded along with python. Sometimes it is not downloaded with python where you can follow these steps to download pip, following this way you can download pip separately.
- Installing and using packages using pip:
To install any package you need to use following command to write in the terminal of your computer.
pip install "package_name"
package name can be replaced with the name of the package, you want to install.
Conda
Conda is a cross-platform environment management and package manager. This is also used so much to download python packages, libraries and various modules but this is commonly used in the scientific computing and data science communities. This package manager can install packages from the Anaconda distribution, which includes a various scientific libraries and tools.
- Installing package with conda:
Open a terminal/command prompt and run `conda install package_name`. Replace `package_name` with the name of the package you want to install.
- Upgrading a package using conda: Run `conda update package_name`.
- Uninstalling a package using conda: Run `conda remove package_name`.
Both pip and conda can be used to install packages globally or within virtual environments. Virtual environments allow you to create isolated Python environments for different projects, which helps in managing package dependencies.
It's worth noting that pip is generally more widely used and compatible with a broader range of packages, while conda is often preferred for managing complex scientific computing environments.
