About pip

Python code that is not a part of the Python Standard Library is commonly released in the form of packages. As these packages are not a part of the standard library, we use tools like pip to download and install these 'third-party' packages. Using pip, we can install code other developers have written and use it in our own projects.

pip is a package management system used to install and manage third-party software packages written in Python. pip stands for "python install python". Many packages can be found in the Python Package Index (PyPI).

About virtualenv/virtualenvwrapper

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Python! gives a good explanation of what a Virtual Environment actually is, in its section about virtual environments:

A Virtual Environment, put simply, is an isolated working copy of Python which allows you to work on a specific project without worry of affecting other projects.

For example, you can work on a project which requires Django 1.3 while also maintaining a project which requires Django 1.0.

virtualenv is a tool that allows you to create isolated Python environments. virtualenvwrapper is simply a wrapper around virtualenv and it provides a set of intuitive commands that make it easier to work with virtual environments. It also does the job of putting all of your virtual environments in one place.

To summarize, virtual environments are responsible for preventing different versions of the same software from interfering with each other, thus, leaving you free to work on more than one project at a time without worrying about any kind of conflicts.

What you'll learn

After completing this mission, you will be able to install, manage and remove third-party Python packages using pip and create and work with isolated Python environments using virtualenv and virtualenvwrapper.

Getting started

This mission consists of five parts: setting up pip and virtualenv, creating virtual environments and installing packages, removing packages and deactivating virtual environments, learning more about pip and virtualenv, and a quick reference at the end.

Setup pip and virtualenv »