Conda Environment Settings

Wed, 12 Feb 2025 21:43:00 +0800

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Anaconda or Miniconda?

Conda is a package manager that runs on Linux, Windows and macOS, and it ships Python with it — which is why a single conda create -n new_pyenv python=3.12 is enough to get a clean virtual environment.

There are two common distributions:

Anaconda is large. The installer already bundles a lot of software and libraries, so you get everything in one shot.
Miniconda is small. Whatever library an environment needs gets downloaded on demand.

If your network is unreliable, Anaconda saves you the repeated downloads — although in mainland China the network problem is usually better solved by switching to a mirror. On an overseas connection (Hong Kong, in my case) I’d just take Miniconda: it installs fast, and when you inevitably get the paths wrong as a beginner, uninstalling and reinstalling is painless. That is exactly how I figured it out.

Python on Geek Vinkey

Conda Environment Settings

Anaconda or Miniconda?