How to setup a Python working environment - Mac

Setting up your Python working environment is crucial to ensure that you can work efficiently and effectively on your Python projects. In this article, we'll provide detailed instructions on how to set up your Python working environment in Mac.

1. Installing Python

Mac comes with Python pre-installed, but it's usually an older version. To install the latest version of Python, we recommend using pyenv, which is a Python version management tool.

To install pyenv, open your Terminal/iTerm and type the following command:

brew install pyenv

This will install pyenv on your Mac.

If you haven't installed brew, please run this command

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

brew install pyenv

After installing pyenv, you can install the latest version of Python by typing the following command

pyenv install 3.11.0 # 3.11.0 is the python version.

This will install Python version 3.11.0. You can replace "3.11.0" with any version of Python you prefer.

2. Setting Up a Virtual Environment

There are few ways that we can use to create virtualenv: pyenv-virtualenv vs venv

2.1 The built-in virtual environment

A virtual environment is a tool that allows you to create an isolated Python environment for each project you work on. This helps to keep your project dependencies separate and prevents version conflicts between different projects.

To create a virtual environment, navigate to your project directory in your Terminal and type the following command

python3 -m venv venv

This will create a virtual environment named venv in your project directory. You can replace venv with any name you prefer.

To activate the virtual environment, type the following command

source venv/bin/activate

To deactivate the virtual environment

deactivate

2.2 The pyenv-virtualenv

pyenv-virtualenv is a pyenv plugin that provides features to manage virtualenvs and conda environments for Python on UNIX-like systems.

Install pyenv-virtualenv

brew install pyenv-virtualenv

To create a virtual environment, navigate to your project directory in your Terminal and type the following command

pyenv virtualenv 3.11.0 myenv

This will create a virtual environment named "env" in your project directory. You can replace "env" with any name you prefer.

To activate the virtual environment, type the following command

pyenv activate myenv

pyenv deactivate myenv

REMEMBER: always use virtual environment for your development by running the commands

pyenv activate myenv  # if you use pyenv

source venv/bin/activate  # if you use venv

3. Choosing an Editor

Choosing an editor is a matter of personal preference. There are several editors available for Mac, including Visual Studio Code, PyCharm, and Sublime Text.

Visual Studio Code is a popular and lightweight editor that has excellent support for Python. PyCharm is a powerful and full-featured Python IDE that's specifically designed for Python development. Sublime Text is a lightweight and customizable text editor that has support for many programming languages.

Check our detail blog for more information

4. Using IPython Shell

IPython is an interactive shell for Python that provides enhanced features over the default Python shell. To install IPython, type the following command in your Terminal

pip install ipython

After installing IPython, you can launch it by typing the following command in your Terminal:

ipython

This will launch the IPython shell, where you can test your Python code interactively.

You can try copy and paste your code here and execute it

def sum_up(x, y, z):

    return x + y + z



print(sum_up(10, 20, 30))

5. Using a Debugging Tool

Debugging is an essential part of Python development, and there are several debugging tools available for Mac. One popular debugging tool is PyCharm's integrated debugger, which allows you to step through your code and inspect variables.

Or you can simply put breakpoint() where you want to debug

For example

Assuming I have a example.py file with content as below

def find_even_numbers(a_list):

    even_numbers = []

    for element in a_list:

        if element % 2 == 1:

            even_numbers.append(element)



    return even_numbers



if __name__ == "__main__":

    print(find_even_numbers([1, 3, 4, 7, 8]))

The function find_even_numbers does not work correctly so we can debug it like

def find_even_numbers(a_list):

    breakpoint()

    even_numbers = []

    for element in a_list:

        if element % 2 == 1:

            even_numbers.append(element)



    return even_numbers

Run the example.py as

python example.py

You will see

❯ python example.py

> /Users/joe/Downloads/example.py(3)find_even_numbers()

-> even_numbers = []

(Pdb) h

Documented commands (type help <topic>):

========================================

EOF    c          d        h         list      q        rv       undisplay

a      cl         debug    help      ll        quit     s        unt

alias  clear      disable  ignore    longlist  r        source   until

args   commands   display  interact  n         restart  step     up

b      condition  down     j         next      return   tbreak   w

break  cont       enable   jump      p         retval   u        whatis

bt     continue   exit     l         pp        run      unalias  where

Miscellaneous help topics:

==========================

exec  pdb</topic>

the execution will stop at the line even_numbers = [] for debugging.

6. Conclusion

Setting up your Python working environment is essential to ensure that you can work efficiently and effectively on your Python projects. By following the steps outlined in this article, you should be able to set up your Python working environment in Mac without any issues. Happy coding!