Comprehensive beginner's virtualenv tutorial?

python virtualenv
Dan Burton picture Dan Burton · Apr 30, 2011 · Viewed 148.3k times · Source

I've been hearing the buzz about virtualenv lately, and I'm interested. But all I've heard is a smattering of praise, and don't have a clear understanding of what it is or how to use it.

I'm looking for (ideally) a follow-along tutorial that can take me from Windows or Linux with no Python on it, and explain every step of (in no particular order):

  • what I should do to be able to start using virtualenv
  • specific reasons why using virtualenv is a good idea
  • situations where I can/can't use virtualenv
  • situations where I should/shouldn't use virtualenv

And step through (comprehensively) a couple sample situations of the should+can variety.

So what are some good tutorials to cover this stuff? Or if you have the time and interest, perhaps you can answer a few of those questions here. Either in your answer, or as a link to tutorials that answer it, these are the things I'd like to know.

Answer

Mark Pope picture Mark Pope · May 1, 2011

This is very good: http://simononsoftware.com/virtualenv-tutorial-part-2/

And this is a slightly more practical one: https://web.archive.org/web/20160404222648/https://iamzed.com/2009/05/07/a-primer-on-virtualenv/

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