Setup Environment#
According to the current (May 2025) Status of Python versions, consider to install version between 3.9 and 3.12.
Python interpreter#
Minimal python interpreter (CPython) setup
Official python launcher for windows: https://www.python.org/downloads/
Choose a binary from the official website under the “Looking for a specific release?”
The binary includes a CPython interpreter for the selected version, along with the
Python Launcher - a tool for managing multiple Python versions on Windows. In this
guide, I’ll download the 3.12.10 version.
On the first screen of the installer, choose “Install Now”, and make sure to
leave the “Add python.exe to PATH” unchecked. After the installation, you will
have CPython 3.12.10 and python launcher in your machine. To verify that the
installation was successful, open a new PowerShell window and run
py --list
This command should display the installed Python interpreter(s). You can repeat this process to install additional CPython versions on your machine.
-V:3.12 * Python 3.13 (64-bit)
pyenv - a simple python version manager.
Follow the official guide on pyenv/pyenv to install pyenv on your machine. In the installing python version step, skip the global setting as below
pyenv install 3.12.10
To verify if the installation was successfully, open a new shell and run
pyenv versions
This command should display the installed Python interpreter(s). You can repeat this process to install additional CPython versions on your machine.
* system (set by /home/user/.pyenv/version)
3.12.10
Virtual environment#
Isolate project environment from the global one.
In your project directory, run
py -3.12 -m venv .venv
.\.venv\Scripts\activate
You have created a virtual environment for your project and activated it. In case your powershell does not display the environment notation, check the interpreter source by running
(Get-Command python).Source
This command will return the path to the python interpreter binary inside
.venv directory that you created. The output should looks like below
Path\To\Your\Project\.venv\Scripts\python.exe
In your project directory, run
pyenv local 3.12.10
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
You have created a virtual environment for your project and activated it. In case your shell does not display the environment notation (not likely to happen btw), check the interpreter source by running
which python
This command will return the path to the python interpreter binary inside
.venv directory that you created. The output should looks like below
Path/To/Your/Project/.venv/bin/python
To deactivate the virtual environment, run
deactivate
Text editor/IDE#
At this point, use any editor or IDE you’re comfortable with. If you’re using one of the two listed below, there are some extensions that can enhance your workflow.
Visual Studio Code. Ensure to install following extensions:
Python: Complete pack for editing python code
Mypy Type Checker: Enhance type checking
PyCharm. Ensure to install following plugin:
Mypy: Enhance type checking
Optional#
Notable tools that you might want to use
uv - A blazingly fast project and package manager. Ideal for daily use, and especially useful for projects that require an optimized setup.
anaconda - A comprehensive distribution for Python and R. It’s quite heavy, but widely used and includes everything you need for scientific computing and data analysis.