Getting Started

Python Support

Only Python 3.6 and above are supported. We recommend using the the Anaconda distribution as it bundles all the required software nicely for you.

Otherwise, you’ll have to manage your environment setup (i.e. C-compiler setup and others) yourself if you choose to use pip.

You can download the Anaconda or the Miniconda distribution to get started. Miniconda is more bare-bones (smaller) and is thus faster to download and setup.

Installing the Packages

You can install the packages via conda or pypi. If installing via conda, make sure you have added the conda-forge channel. The details to do so are listed in the Configuring Conda section.

# conda
conda install -c danielbok allopy

# pip
pip install allopy

Configuring Conda

We require packages from both the conda-forge and danielbok channels. Before anything, open your command prompt and type this command in:

conda config --prepend channels conda-forge --append channels danielbok

This command places the conda-forge channel to the top of list while the danielbok channel will be placed at the bottom. It means that whenever you install packages, conda will first look for the package from conda-forge. If it can’t find the package, it will move down the list to find the package in the other channels. Once it finds the package, it will install it. Otherwise, it will throw an error.

You may get an error message that reads

'conda' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

In this case, it means that you have not added conda to your path. What you need to do is find the folder you installed the Miniconda or Anaconda package and add them to path.

Assuming you’re using a Windows machine and have installed Miniconda to the folder C:\\Miniconda3\\, there are 2 ways to add conda to your path.

Method 1

  1. In the Start Menu, search for edit environment variables for your account

  2. In the top prompt titled User variables for <NTID>, search for PATH

  3. Double click PATH

  4. In the Variable Value section, go to the end and add the following line ;C:\Miniconda3\;C:\Miniconda3\condabin.

  5. Ensure that you have added and not replaced!!

  6. Click Okay to everything

Method 2

The second way is to run the following line in your command prompt. However this is not recommended.

setx PATH "C:\Miniconda3\;C:\Miniconda3\condabin;%PATH%"

Using Environments

A tutorial on how to manage your conda environment can be found here.

It is best practice to start your project in a new environment.