EPD (Enthought Python Distribution) provided a simple install of Python for scientific computing on the major platforms: Windows, Linux and Mac-OS. Those looking for a clean, straightforward Python stack to unpack into a particular directory found EPD to be pretty ideal.
With the introduction of Enthought Canopy, we began addressing users who are more engineer or scientist than programmer and were much less familiar with command-line interfaces. The Canopy desktop (in the vein of MATLAB or Spyder) aims at these technical users who want to use Python, but more as an application or IDE. To implement the desktop in Python and to allow both it and a user-defined Python environment to co-exist and be separately updated, we used virtual environments. As a consequence Canopy can feel a bit foreign to EPD users. With 1.1 we have added a new command line interface (CLI) that will hopefully make EPD users feel more at home in Canopy while retaining many of the Canopy advantages such as in-place update and virtual environment support.
Now, EPD users who just want to use Canopy as a plain Python environment with their own tools or IDE can easily create one or more Python environments. For example, from the command line on Windows:
Canopy_cli.exe setup C:\Python27
or on Linux:
canopy_cli setup ~/canopy
The target directory can be any you choose. If you want to make this Python environment the default on your system, you can specify the –default switch, and Canopy will add the appropriate bin directory (Scripts directory on Windows) to your PATH environment variable. On Mac OS and Linux systems, Canopy does this by appending a line to your ~/.bash_profile file which activates the correct virtual environment. On Windows, this Python environment is also added to the system registry so third-party tools can correctly find it.
Since we use virtual environments, the installation layout for Canopy is different. With Canopy we install what is referred to as “Canopy Core”: the core Python environment and a minimum set of packages needed to bootstrap Canopy itself. With it we can lock down the Canopy environment, facilitate the automatic update mechanism, and provide reliable startup and fail-safe recovery. For the user, there is a different environment. This means when a Python update comes out, it is no longer necessary to install a whole new environment plus all of your packages and get everything working again. Instead, simply update Canopy and go back to working — all of your packages are still installed but Python has been upgraded.
To complete an install, Canopy creates two virtual environments named ‘System’ and ‘User’. System is where the Canopy GUI runs; no user code runs in this environment. Updates to this virtual environment are done via the Canopy update mechanisms. The User environment is where the kernel and all user code runs. This virtual environment is managed by Package Manager from the desktop or by enpkg from the command line; any packages can be updated and installed without fear of disrupting the GUI. Similarly, updates to the Canopy GUI will not affect packages installed in the User environment and break your code.
So why stick with virtual environments for an “EPD-like” install? One of the big challenges with the old, “flat” EPD installation method was updating an install, or trying out different package configurations. With virtual environments, you can create a new environment which inherits packages from another virtual environment, and try out a few package changes. When you are satisfied, it’s straightforward to throw away the experimentation area and make the changes to the original, stable virtual environment.
For more details, check out Creating an EPD-like Python environment in our online docs. And you can download Canopy v1.1 now.