python3 virtual env aliases

So I recently transitioned from using conda environments to python virtual environments. They’re pretty similar but I’ve written a couple scripts to make things easier for myself.

Installation steps/notes:

1. If you’re on a mac you have to install python 3 because they still come with python 2 for some reason…
   • No included package manager? Install homebrew
   • brew install python3
2. I prefer to keep all my venvs in one location ~/envs/
   • mkdir envs
   • cd envs
   • python3 -m venv whatever_venv_name_you_want
3. Add a script to .bashrc or .bash_profile to make activation aliases
   • This script makes activate-name_of_venv an alias that points to the correct bash command for all envs in ~/envs/

     for D in ~/envs/*/
     do
      D="${D%"${D##*[!/]}"}"
      N="${D##*/}"
      alias activate-$N="source $D/bin/activate"
     done
     

   • source .bashrc or restart your terminal
4. Install ipykernel for jupyter hub or notebooks
   • activate-name_of_venv
   • pip install ipykernel
   • python -m ipykernel install --user --name name_of_venv --display-name "name_of_venv"