Setup environment

Setup environment#

Code Editor#

We’ll work with VSCode / VSCodium:

VSCode — VSCode developed by Microsoft

VSCodium — VSCode without tracking and telemetry

Extensions#

After installation, go to the Extensions-tab and install the following extensions:

  • Python

  • Jupyter

VSCode Extensions

Virtual environment#

It is recommended to create a virtual environment for your project/ setup. All the libraries and dependencies installed for this project are isolated and won’t conflict other libraries and their dependencies. The easiest way to create a virtual environment is conda.

Miniconda#

Download Miniconda for your OS and execute the installer.

Open the Terminal inside VSCode: Terminal -> New Terminal and type the following commands, line by line, execute each one of them with pressing Enter.

# check if conda is installed
conda --version

Create a new environment#

# create a new environment called "up" with Python version 3.12
conda create -n up python=3.12 -y

The word after the -n flag (in this case “up”) is the name of your environment and you have to type it when you start it later on, so make sure it’s not too long and easy to remember.

You can see all environments created by you with the following command:

# list available environments
conda env list

Next we can activate our newly created environment.

# activate your environment
conda activate up

Install external packages with pip#

We can use Python’s package installer pip to install external libraries like fpdf2.

# important: activate your environment first
conda activate up

# install the library fpdf2 with pip
pip install fpdf2

Deactivate conda#

When we’ve finished our work, we can deactivate the environment with:

# deactivate environment
conda deactivate

Remove an environment#

conda remove -n <my environment> --all

Python#

Python is an easy to write general purpose programming language, meaning it can be used for a variety of different applications.

Scripting language#

Python is a scripting language. Code written in Python is interpreted on the fly, instead of compiled into a piece of software beforehand. Python can be used to write stand-alone software, but (as other scripting languages) it can also be used to extend the functionality of existing software.

For example Python scripts can extend

  • Blender

  • Grasshopper

  • GIMP

  • FontForge

  • Glyphs

Terminal#

As a scripting language Python can be used inside the console/terminal (Command Line Interface) of your OS in an interactive mode: type a line of code, press Enter and it’s interpreted.

~$ python                                                                                  
>>> name = input('What is your name?\n')
What is your name?                                                                      
AI Lab                                   
>>> print(f'Hello {name}')
Hello AI Lab                                                                            
>>>

(The $ is an indicator for code that’s written in the CLI. If you see >>> before Python code, this means that it’s written in an interactive session.)

Code is nothing else then plain text. Let’s save it as a file.

hello.py

name = input('What is your name?\n')
print(f'Hello {name}!')

We can execute an openend file inside VSCode with the Play-Button.

VSCode Run File

We’ll see the results inside the Terminal below.

Appendix#

Terminal emulators#

Here are some terminal emulators (beyond the default one of your OS):

Cross Platform

Alacritty

Kitty

Tabby

Linux

Terminator

Konsole

Mac

iTerm2

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