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Get Started Python

TL;DR

  • Use version 3.6 or higher where possible
  • Anaconda makes life easier
  • pip install -r requirements.txt

Python Versions

Short version: Python 2.x is legacy, Python 3.x is the present and future of the language

  • Use at least 3.6 for all new development
  • Some projects (ArcPy, ansible) still require 2.7

Virtual Environment

Easy way to manage python installation and dependencies by using a virtual environment, a self-contained directory tree that contains a Python installation for a particular version of Python, plus a number of additional packages.

  • Standard python: venv

  • python -m venv env; . ./env/bin/activate

  • Anaconda has its own conda env

  • conda create --name env; . activate myenv

Dependencies

  • requirements.txt lists third-party dependencies for a project with minimum versions

With pip:

  • pip install -r requirements.txt

With conda:

  • conda install -f requirements.txt

C / C++ dependencies

Some python packages depend on having C/C++ sources to link to at build time. Often they will distribute "binary wheels" with the dependencies pre-compiled.

Platform-specific installation hints

Windows

Anaconda is recommended. The Windows download provides the Spyder IDE.

GIS Dependencies

Shapely / pyproj

If you use Anaconda you should get a binary wheel and not need the C libraries.

If installing with a system python you need OSGeo4W libraries in your PATH at installation time.

(The shapely docs point you at GEOS_LIBRARY_PATH at install time but in practise you also need PATH set at run time.

  • Install OSGeo4W - download from here, do full Desktop install https://trac.osgeo.org/osgeo4w/

  • $Env:PATH="$Env:PATH;C:\OSGeo4W64\bin"

  • C:\Python36\Scripts\pip.exe install shapely

Centos 7

Comes with 2.7 by default and does not distribute 3.6 in core packages so you need EPEL.

  • sudo yum install python36 python36-devel
  • /usr/bin/python36 -m venv env

Then add the following to .bashrc or .zshrc

  • source ~/env/bin/activate

Be aware there is an RH graphical installer package also called anaconda

Build tools

(For C/C++ based dependencies)

Centos has no moral equivalent of debian/Ubuntu build-essential package but this is recommended:

  • sudo yum groupinstall 'Development Tools'

If you get an error about kernel-headers then

  • sudo yum install kernel-headers

If you get an error about not finding the kernel-headers package, worth checking the last line of /etc/yum.conf to make sure that kernel* packages are not being excluded, and also

  • sudo yum update