What is the most compatible way to install python modules on a Mac

Question

I m starting to learn python and loving it  I work on a Mac mainly as well as Linux  I m finding that on Linux  Ubuntu 9 04 mostly  when I install a python module using apt-get it works fine  I can import it with no trouble   On the Mac  I m used to using Macports to install all the Unixy stuff  However  I m finding that most of the python modules I install with it are not being seen by python  I ve spent some time playing around with PATH settings and using python select   Nothing has really worked and at this point I m not really understanding  instead I m just poking around   I get the impression that Macports isn t universally loved for managing python modules  I d like to start fresh using a more  accepted   if that s the right word  approach    So  I was wondering  what is the method that Mac python developers use to manage their modules   Bonus questions    Do you use Apple s python  or some other version  Do you compile everything from source or is there a package manger that works well  Fink

User · Answer

I use MacPorts to install Python and any third-party modules tracked by MacPorts into /opt/local, and I install any manually installed modules (those not in the MacPorts repository) into /usr/local, and this has never caused any problems. I think you may be confused as to the use of certain MacPorts scripts and environment variables.

MacPorts python_select is used to select the "current" version of Python, but it has nothing to do with modules. This allows you to, e.g., install both Python 2.5 and Python 2.6 using MacPorts, and switch between installs.

The $PATH environment variables does not affect what Python modules are loaded. $PYTHONPATH is what you are looking for. $PYTHONPATH should point to directories containing Python modules you want to load. In my case, my $PYTHONPATH variable contains /usr/local/lib/python26/site-packages. If you use MacPorts' Python, it sets up the other proper directories for you, so you only need to add additional paths to $PYTHONPATH. But again, $PATH isn't used at all when Python searches for modules you have installed.

$PATH is used to find executables, so if you install MacPorts' Python, make sure /opt/local/bin is in your $PATH.

User · Answer

Directly install one of the fink packages  Django 1 6 as of 2013-Nov   fink install django-py27 fink install django-py33   Or create yourself a virtualenv   fink install virtualenv-py27 virtualenv django-env source django-env bin activate pip install django deactivate   when you are done   Or use fink django plus any other pip installed packages in a virtualenv  fink install django-py27 fink install virtualenv-py27 virtualenv django-env --system-site-packages source django-env bin activate   django already installed pip install django-analytical   or anything else you might want deactivate   back to your normally scheduled programming

User · Answer

Your question is already three years old and there are some details not covered in other answers   Most people I know use HomeBrew or MacPorts  I prefer MacPorts because of its clean cut of what is a default Mac OS X environment and my development setup  Just move out your  opt folder and test your packages with a normal user Python environment  MacPorts is only portable within Mac  but with easy install or pip you will learn how to setup your environment in any platform  Win Mac Linux Bsd      Furthermore it will always be more up to date and with more packages  I personally let MacPorts handle my Python modules to keep everything updated  Like any other high level package manager  ie  apt-get  it is much better for the heavy lifting of modules with lots of binary dependencies  There is no way I would build my Qt bindings  PySide  with easy install or pip  Qt is huge and takes a lot to compile  As soon as you want a Python package that needs a library used by non Python programs  try to avoid easy install or pip   At some point you will find that there are some packages missing within MacPorts  I do not believe that MacPorts will ever give you the whole CheeseShop  For example  recently I needed the Elixir module  but MacPorts only offers py25-elixir and py26-elixir  no py27 version  In cases like these you have      pip-2 7 install --user elixir     make sure you always type pip- version     That will build an extra Python library in your home dir  Yes  Python will work with more than one library location  one controlled by MacPorts and a user local one for everything missing within MacPorts   Now notice that I favor pip over easy install  There is a good reason you should avoid setuptools and easy install  Here is a good explanation and I try to keep away from them  One very useful feature of pip is giving you a list of all the modules  along their versions  that you installed with MacPorts  easy install and pip itself      pip-2 7 freeze   If you already started using easy install  don t worry  pip can recognize everything done already by easy install and even upgrade the packages installed with it   If you are a developer keep an eye on virtualenv for controlling different setups and combinations of module versions  Other answers mention it already  what is not mentioned so far is the Tox module  a tool for testing that your package installs correctly with different Python versions   Although I usually do not have version conflicts  I like to have virtualenv to set up a clean environment and get a clear view of my packages dependencies  That way I never forget any dependencies in my setup py  If you go for MacPorts be aware that multiple versions of the same package are not selected anymore like the old Debian style with an extra python select package  it is still there for compatibility   Now you have the select command to choose which Python version will be used  you can even select the Apple installed ones       port select python Available versions for python      none     python25-apple     python26-apple     python27  active      python27-apple     python32    port select python python32   Add tox on top of it and your programs should be really portable

User · Answer

If you use Python from MacPorts  it has it s own easy install located at   opt local bin easy install-2 6  for py26  that is   It s not the same one as simply calling easy install directly  even if you used python select to change your default python command

User · Answer

Please see Python OS X development environment  The best way is to use MacPorts  Download and install MacPorts  then install Python via MacPorts by typing the following commands in the Terminal    sudo port install python26 python select sudo port select --set python python26   OR   sudo port install python30 python select sudo port select --set python python30   Use the first set of commands to install Python 2 6 and the second set to install Python 3 0  Then use    sudo port install py26-packagename   OR   sudo port install py30-packagename   In the above commands  replace packagename with the name of the package  for example    sudo port install py26-setuptools   These commands will automatically install the package  and its dependencies  for the given Python version   For a full list of available packages for Python  type    port list   grep py26-   OR   port list   grep py30-   Which command you use depends on which version of Python you chose to install

User · Answer

When you install modules with MacPorts  it does not go into Apple s version of Python  Instead those modules are installed onto the MacPorts version of Python selected   You can change which version of Python is used by default using a mac port called python select  instructions here   Also  there s easy install  Which will use python to install python modules

User · Answer

I use easy install with Apple s Python  and it works like a charm

User · Answer

Regarding which python version to use  Mac OS usually ships an old version of python  It s a good idea to upgrade to a newer version  You can download a  dmg from http   www python org download     If you do that  remember to update the path  You can find the exact commands here http   farmdev com thoughts 66 python-3-0-on-mac-os-x-alongside-2-6-2-5-etc-

User · Answer

Have you looked into easy install at all   It won t synchronize your macports or anything like that  but it will automatically download the latest package and all necessary dependencies  i e   easy install nose   for the nose unit testing package  or  easy install trac   for the trac bug tracker   There s a bit more information on their EasyInstall page too

User · Answer

You may already have pip3 pre-installed  so just try it

User · Answer

There s nothing wrong with using a MacPorts Python installation  If you are installing python modules from MacPorts but then not seeing them  that likely means you are not invoking the MacPorts python you installed to   In a terminal shell  you can use absolute paths to invoke the various Pythons that may be installed   For example      usr bin python2 5           Apple-supplied 2 5  Leopard     opt local bin python2 5     MacPorts 2 5    opt local bin python2 6     MacPorts 2 6    usr local bin python2 6     python org  MacPython  2 6    usr local bin python3 1     python org  MacPython  3 1   To get the right python by default requires ensuring your shell  PATH is set properly to ensure that the right executable is found first   Another solution is to define shell aliases to the various pythons   A python org  MacPython  installation is fine  too  as others have suggested   easy install  can help but  again  because each Python instance may have its own easy install command  make sure you are invoking the right easy install

User · Answer

The most popular way to manage python packages  if you re not using your system package manager  is to use setuptools and easy install  It is probably already installed on your system  Use it like this   easy install django   easy install uses the Python Package Index  which is an amazing resource for python developers  Have a look around to see what packages are available   A better option is pip  which is gaining traction  as it attempts to fix a lot of the problems associated with easy install  Pip uses the same package repository as easy install  it just works better  Really the only time use need to use easy install is for this command   easy install pip   After that  use   pip install django   At some point you will probably want to learn a bit about virtualenv  If you do a lot of python development on projects with conflicting package requirements  virtualenv is a godsend  It will allow you to have completely different versions of various packages  and switch between them easily depending your needs   Regarding which python to use  sticking with Apple s python will give you the least headaches  but If you need a newer version  Leopard is 2 5 1 I believe   I would go with the macports python 2 6

User · Answer

For MacPython installations  I found an effective solution to fixing the problem with setuptools  easy install  in this blog post   http   droidism com getting-running-with-django-and-macpython-26-on-leopard  One handy tip includes finding out which version of python is active in the terminal   which python

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