They use Python as a tool to do some other works such as web crawling, data mining, and image processing. So what is the difference between Conda Environment and Virtualenv Environment( Pipenv Environment essentially is a Virtualenv Environment with sophisticated pip)? The difference comes from their different purposes.Ĭonda Environment is usually for 'Python user'. And Pycharm just uses and wraps one of them. There are only envs named 'created by Virtualenv, Conda or Pipenv'. In this case, I think you can understand it now: There isn't an env named 'created by P圜harm' or 'Anaconda'. As for me, I usually choose Pipenv Environment as this env will be bound to the current project and can generate a lock file. So back to your question, when you create an env in Pycharm, it will ask you which env do you want to create: Virtualenv Environment, Conda Environment, or Pipenv Environment. It will automatically solve compiler problem and C dependencies. But with conda, you can install numpy with just one command conda install numpy.

Without conda, it is really difficult as it needs a specific C compiler which is difficult to obtain. A classic example is installing numpy on Windows. It will help you to install packages without pain. It just contains the necessary parts to manage the environment instead of a full anaconda collection.Ĭonda is beyond a simple Python packages manager but is a system-wide package manager.

I have to clarify that anaconda is just a collection. So, what is the difference between the environments created by P圜harm and Anaconda? Also, I have read that I can configure my P圜harm to use the Anaconda Environment interpreter. Now, my question is what is the difference between virtual environment created by P圜harm and the environment created by Anaconda? The virtual env created by P圜harm is around 15-20MB while that of Anaconda is 90MB. For my projects, I can use this environment and install only the required packages here and not in the main system environment. When I create a new Anaconda environment, it creates a new one apart from system env. I have also read about Anaconda Environment. So, if I need to install some packages, I can install them in only this environment and not in the system environment. I have read that when I execute Python scripts, they are executed using the interpreter in this environment instead of System Environment. When I create a new project in P圜harm, it creates a new Virtual Environment.

Pycharm virtualenv