Using Python Virtual Environment and Installing Requirements

This readme provides instructions on how to set up a Python virtual environment using python -m venv and install packages from a requirements.txt file within that virtual environment.

Prerequisites

Make sure you have the following installed on your system:

• Python (Version 3.x recommended)

Creating Virtual Environment

1. Open your terminal or command prompt.

2. Navigate to the directory where you want to create your virtual environment.

3. To create a new Python virtual environment, run the following command:

   python -m venv .venv

   This will create a virtual environment named .venv in the current directory.

4. Activate the virtual environment:

   On Windows:

   .venv\Scripts\activate

   On macOS and Linux:

   source .venv/bin/activate

   After activation, you'll notice that your command prompt changes to show the name of the virtual environment (e.g., (.venv)).

Installing Packages from requirements.txt

1. Make sure you have a requirements.txt file in your project directory that lists all the required packages and their versions.

   For example, the requirements.txt file should look like this:

   package1==1.0.0
   package2==2.1.0
   package3>=3.2.1
   

2. With the virtual environment activated, use pip to install the packages listed in the requirements.txt file:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

   This command will install all the packages specified in the requirements.txt file into your virtual environment.

3. Once the installation is complete, you can start working with your Python project, and it will use the packages installed within the virtual environment.

Deactivating the Virtual Environment

After you have finished working on your project and want to deactivate the virtual environment, run the following command in the terminal:

deactivate

This will return your command prompt to its original state.

Congratulations! You have now successfully created a Python virtual environment using python -m venv and installed packages from the requirements.txt file within that virtual environment. You are ready to develop your Python project with a clean and isolated environment. Happy coding!