The python-guide provides a similar list, but goes into much more detail. On this page I will limit myself to my personal preferences, and give some links to documentation.

Install

Python is installed by default in all linux distributions. Python2 is not recommended: when it is available on your system, it is mostly to support legacy applications. Python3 is the way to go for any new code.

Packages

Popular python packages are available in your linux distribution, but many more are on the Python Package Index. Those can be installed using pip:

pip install $PACKAGE_NAME

You can install a list of packages automatically using -r:

pip install -r requirements.txt

where requirements.txt is the conventional file name.

By default, pip will install packages globally (or in your user account). Especially if you are developping, it is a good practice to setup a virtual environment so you do not interfere with the system packages.

To install packages directly from Github (useful when not released on PyPi):

python -m pip install SomeProject@git+https://git.repo/some_pkg.git@1.3.1

More information can be found in the PyPi documentation.

Virtual environment

A virtual environment is a way to keep software installed with pip from interfering with your system’s python. All packages, and their dependencies, are contained in a folder in your local file system. On this page I call the folder env, but you can use any name.

mkdir env
python -m venv env
. env/bin/activate

For some dependencies, you might not want to install it locally, or you don’t need the most recent versions. You can have pip use the globally installed (system) version of a package, if available, by initializing your repository as:

python -m venv env --system-site-packages

The environment can be quite large, and contains binary files and caches. It is good practice to exclude this from your version controll. For git:

echo env >> .gitignore

Deleting the folder env will completely remove all packages and files created by pip:

deactivate  # remove the env from your path (optional)
rm -rf env

A completely different approach to python packages is Anaconda. This is based on a binary-distribution approach, look on the their website for a comparison. You can even both: run pip from an anaconda environment.

I much prefer PyPi, and hardly have any issues. Stuff just works (Fedora linux on an intel+nvidia laptop).

Using a specific python version

Some libraries require specific versions of python. An annoying example is PyTorch, which doesn’t work with a too new python. A common workaround is to install a lower version of python using your systems package manager, and specify your interpreter when initializing your environment:

virtualenv -p $CUSTOM_PYTHON_INTERPRETER env

Write code

Project layout

Keeping your code, documentation, and test nicely organized is crucial when writing a larger program, or when working with multiple people on a code. There are plenty of tutorials; I like the python-guide. Also interesting is this discussion on what to put in requirements.txt and what in setup.cfg.

git_root_folder/
├── LICENSE
├── README.md
├── Makefile
├── docs/
├── .gitignore
├── pyproject.toml
├── requirements.txt
├── setup.cfg
├── src/
│   └── example_package/
│       ├── __init__.py
│       └── example.py
└── tests/

Highlighting

Vim provides syntax highlighting for python by default.

Linting

Vim, via the ALE plugin, provides many linting and code quality plugins; you can see which linters are available using :ALEInfo in Vim. I’m using flake8, mypy, and pylint.

Language server

A maintained language server is available here. Install using pip:

pip install python-lsp-server

Logging

Use pythons default logging framework.

import logging

# do this in __main__
logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)

# do this in each module separately
logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
logger.info('message')

Debugging

Add breakpoints to you code (Python 3.7 and later):

breakpoint()

or run your program under pdb:

python -m pdb $PROGRAM $PROGRAM_ARGS

For documentation see this Real Python page.

I haven’t used this much, but you can also debug directly from Vim.

• For a solution based on Vim’s :terminal mode see vim-repl
• For a generic solution using the Debug Adapter Protocol take a look at vimspector

Testing

Python3 comes with a default testing framework unittest.

python -m unittest $WHAT_TO_TEST

where you can test modules, a class or a method, or a filename. When run without arguments, unittest will do its own test discovery.

Alternatively, PyTest is also popular.

Profiling

Easy profiling with cProfile. Pass your program as an argument to the cProfile module:

python -m cProfile [-o output_file] [-s sort_order] (-m module | myscript.py)

Packaging

Python has an extensive guide on packaging your project. It requires a (sensible) project layout, so it makes sense to read that section before starting a big project.

Interactive use

Notebooks

Jupyter

REPL

IPython, bpython, ptpython

Recommended packages