Python Virtual Environment

Last updated on August 8, 2022

A virtual environment is a lightweight Python installation with its own package directories and a Python binary copied (or linked) from the binary used to create the environment.

In Python 2.7 we need a module called virtualenv which is installed using PIP to get started with Python virtual environments. You can install it with pip install virtualenv

In Python 3 the venv module comes pre-shipped as a part of the standard library.

Create Virtual environments

Create a directory for your virtual environment and cd into it. python_envs is my directory name.

python3 -m venv python_envs/your_env

Here is what each folder in the structure contains:

1. Include: This folder contains C headers to compile the Python packages.
2. Lib: This folder contains a copy of the Python version and all the other third-party modules
3. Scripts: Files to interact with the virtual environment.

Now after creating a virtual environment, you need to activate it. Remember to activate the relevant virtual environment every time you work on the project. This can be done using the following command:

After your work, to deactivate the virtual environment, you need to execute the following command:

C:\python_env\test_project\Scripts\deactivate.bat