README.md

Python Part 2: Working with Libraries and Virtual Environments

"Gitting" the Code

All of the code and examples for this lesson is located in the netprog_basics/programming_fundamentals/python_part_2 directory. Clone and access it with the following commands:

git clone https://github.com/CiscoDevNet/netprog_basics
cd netprog_basics/programming_fundamentals/python_part_2

Local Workstation Setup

Be sure to complete the General Workstation Setup instructions before beginning this lesson.

Python Environment Setup

It is recommended that this lesson be completed using Python 3.8. Other versions of Python 3 should also work.

Note about Python 2: Python 2 was sunset by Python Software Foundation on January 1, 2020. This means that no more updates to Python 2 are being worked on, including security updates. Python 3 is now the recommended version of Python for everyone to use. Most Python developers of software, packages, and scripts have migrated to Python 3 already, however you may find some older scripts and tools that are no longer maintained that only work with Python 2.

You may see/hear references to Python 2 within the videos in this course from before January 2020, however all examples scripts and demos available in the GitHub repo to run have been updated to leverage Python 3.

Note: During this lesson you will learn about Python Virtual Environments and Libraries and practice using these tools.

Creating Virtual Environments

Python 3 includes a library called venv for creating virtual environments. This replaces the virtualenv library that was used with Python 2 and shown in the video and slides. The recommended way to create virtual environments in Python 3 is:

python3 -m venv venv

The -m argument to the Python command is used to run a library module. In this case the venv library. The second venv in the command above is the name of the virtual environment to create. While any name could be used, venv is a common practice for naming the virtual enviornment with Python.

Once created, the virtual environment is activated the same way:

source venv/bin/activate

DevNet Sandbox

No Sandbox is required for this lesson.

Download Slides

You can download the slides for this lesson here.

Suggestion: Right click, "Open in new tab"