Introduction to Packages






Hello Folks....!!!
Today I will give you the introduction about some terms which will be commonly used hereafter.


What are modules ?

Modules are nothing but just Python functions coded and stored as a file with .py extension. They can be imported and utilized in any programs/project we do. They are simply executable python files. For example, If you are designing a calculator, then its functionalities are adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing and finding modulo for given inputs. Thus each function can be written in separate .py files which makes them a module. 

What are packages then ?

Packages are collection of modules. They should have a special file called __init__.py. As we all know  writing this way corresponds to constructor, whenever the package is imported, this special file is executed for loading the requirements. The packages are also treated as classes you can import them (like inheriting) and use the functionalities in it. Consider the same example said above. If the arithmetic operations are functionalities then the calculator is the package. Once you pack all the modules within it, the calculator can be imported in any required placed and utilized instead of writing the code from scratch. There are several built-in packages which you can use. You can also write your own package and use it.

How to install these packages and modules ?

There two ways to install these packages. pip install and conda install. 

pip install : It is a recursive acronym which stands for Pip Installs Packages or Pip Installs Python. pip is used for package management in python. The packages that are present in PyPI (Python Package Index) can be easily installed using pip command. 
While installing various packages there may be some dependencies, ie., one package may need another to be pre installed. For handling such things, pip will use a recursive loop to check for the dependencies. This will sometimes lead to breaking the environment if the versions of the previously checked package is not compatible with the later one.

It requires a compiler and runs on virtual environment. It can be used to install Python packages only. There are around 1,50,000 packages available on PyPI and could be installed using pip command. For installing packages using pip, follow the steps below :
  1. Open Anaconda command prompt.
  2. On the black screen, after the path appears, type pip install package_name. For example, if I wish to install the calculator package, then I should write pip install calculator.
  3. Wait until installation finishes. Once done you can import and use the in .py or .ipynb files.


conda install : It is a cross platform package and environment manager. Unlike pip it allows user to install C, C++ libraries or packages of R language also. It is not limited to Python software/packages. The packages that are available in Anaconda repository and Anaconda clouds can be installed using conda install command. 

The dependency check is done by a Satisfiability (SAT) solver here. This takes extra time to verify the dependencies and their versions but broken environments are prevented. As this allows installation any language libraries while doing data analytics project conda install is preferred as one may use various kinds of tools in the analytical process.

To install packages using conda command, follow the same steps as given for pip, but in the place of pip just write conda. For example conda install package_name.

If the package is already installed, then both return a message stating that requirement already satisfied.



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