Screencast Idea --- using the right package version

Jul 6, 2013 • Chris Holdgraf

One of the most common problems I, and those in my lab, run into is having multiple version of a package installed on your machine, and needing to use a particular one. Perhaps you’ve got Python Canopy installed, and you also install “NetworkX” with it. However, what if you’ve already installed this package with PIP? Which version will you use if you load up python and “import networkx”?

Troubleshooting this problem should involve an understanding of the python path, and the way in which packages are handled and installed. In this video, I hope to cover these ideas quickly:

  1. determine which package you’re using when you call a particular function / program.
  2. Determine whether this is the correct package, switch to a different package if need be.
  3. confirm that we do, in fact, have the right package now.
    Optional 4: fix things up so that we aren’t worried about mixing up packages anymore, or at least change your setup so that you default to the correct package now.