Clean Python Setup

Why bother?

I create a bunch of little Python projects and I like to have them sandboxed and independent of each other. I also sometimes need to change which version of Python I am running due to requirements of dependencies. Your OS may come installed with Python but it’s rarely a great idea to try and run your projects from it.

Here’s what I do:

Install asdf

asdf is a tool version manager. There are good docs on how install it depending on your setup and preferences, described here. Open a new shell session after editing your shell rc file and validate you successfully installed asdf

asdf -V
#=> v0.11.0

Next, add the Python plugin for asdf.

asdf plugin-add python

You can now install any version of Python.

asdf install python 3.11.1

To switch to the version you installed, run

asdf global python 3.11.1

Setup a virtual environment from asdf managed Python

To start, see what versions of Python you’ve had asdf install. I have two versions:

asdf list

python
 *3.11.1
  3.7.9

We can see that our python is currently the asdf managed version of Python.

which python
#=> ~/.asdf/shims/python

We can also validate it’s the same version as asdf claims:

python -V
#=> Python 3.11.1

Let’s create a virtual environment. First cd to your project folder, then run:

python -m venv env

Activate the virtual environment and validate your shell is pointing to the virtual environment’s python rather than asdf’s. You should also see that the virtual environment’s version of Python is the same as asdf’s.

. env/bin/activate

which python
#=> ~/dev/python_env_test/env/bin/python

python -V
#=> Python 3.11.1

Next, let’s switch Python versions.

# stop using the virtual environment
deactivate

# install first, if you need to
asdf global python 3.7.9
which python
#=> ~/.asdf/shims/python

python -V
#=> Python 3.7.9

Create a second virtual environment.

python -m venv env2

. env2/bin/activate

which python
#=> ~/dev/python_env_test/env2/bin/python

python -V
#=> Python 3.7.9

deactivate once more and your back to your standard shell with asdf managed python.

If you ever see Python code you want to try out on your own machine that requires dependencies, or when starting a new project, I recommend setting up a virtual environment for the version you need like this. Once you have the virtual environment setup and activated, you can install any dependencies you need in a spot that won’t affect your system install or any other projects.

What’s next?

I’ve been hearing a lot about nix and direnv as a killer combo for managing dev environments. I’m hoping to try that out and might revist my setup here if it goes well.