Virtual environments are isolated Python environments, which make it easier to keep your system clean and manage dependencies. By default, when activated, only libraries and scripts installed in the virtual environment are accessible, preventing cross-project dependency conflicts, and allowing easy isolation of requirements.
To create a new virtual environment, you can use the standard library venv module: python3 -m venv .venv (replace python3 with python or py on Windows)
Then, to activate the new virtual environment:
Windows (PowerShell): .venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1
or (Command Prompt): .venv\Scripts\activate.bat
MacOS / Linux (Bash): source .venv/bin/activate
Packages can then be installed to the virtual environment using pip, as normal.
For more information, take a read of the documentation. If you run code through your editor, check its documentation on how to make it use your virtual environment. For example, see the VSCode or PyCharm docs.
Tools such as poetry and pipenv can manage the creation of virtual environments as well as project dependencies, making packaging and installing your project easier.
Note: When using PowerShell in Windows, you may need to change the execution policy first. This is only required once per user:
Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser