In earlier years, Conda was predominantly used for managing Python environments. Nowadays, pyenv is commonly employed.
This article aims to document the installation and usage of pyenv.
Prerequisites
Before installing pyenv
, ensure that Git
is installed on your system.
The pyenv package provides a Common build problems guide to address installation issues.
If you encounter any problems during installation, refer to this page.
Installing pyenv
-
Execute Installation Command:
You can quickly install
pyenv
by running the following command:curl https://pyenv.run | bash
This command fetches and executes the installation script from the
pyenv-installer
repository on GitHub. -
Configure Your Shell Environment:
After installation, follow the setup guide to configure your shell environment to ensure that
pyenv
works correctly.If you are using
bash
, add the following code to your.bashrc
file:export PATH="$HOME/.pyenv/bin:$PATH"
eval "$(pyenv init --path)"
eval "$(pyenv virtualenv-init -)"For
zsh
users, add the above code to your.zshrc
file. -
Restart Your Shell:
After completing the above steps, reload the new configuration.
exec $SHELL
Using pyenv
Once installed and configured, you can start using pyenv
to manage multiple Python versions:
-
Install a New Python Version:
pyenv install 3.10.14
-
Switch the Global Python Version:
pyenv global 3.10.14
-
Use a Specific Version in a Directory:
pyenv local 3.8.5
Virtual Environments
Virtual environments are crucial in Python development.
They allow us to use different Python versions and dependencies in different projects.
At the very least, when you accidentally mess up your Python environment, you can simply delete the virtual environment and start over.
It's highly recommended to use virtual environments when developing Python projects.
Installation
pyenv
also provides a pyenv-virtualenv
plugin, making it easier to manage Python virtual environments.
Previously, this feature required separate installation, but it's now integrated into pyenv
, and we can directly use:
pyenv virtualenv 3.10.14 your-env-name
Here, 3.10.14
is the Python version you want to use, which you've already installed in the previous step, and your-env-name
is the name of the virtual environment.
Usage
To activate the virtual environment, run:
pyenv activate your-env-name
Removal
Finally, when you no longer need the virtual environment, you can run the following command to delete it:
pyenv virtualenv-delete your-env-name
Updating pyenv
To update pyenv
to the latest version, simply run:
pyenv update
Uninstalling pyenv
If you decide to no longer use pyenv
, follow these steps to uninstall:
-
Remove the
pyenv
Installation Directory:rm -fr ~/.pyenv
-
Clean Your
.bashrc
:Remove or comment out the relevant
pyenv
configuration lines, then restart your shell:exec $SHELL