How to Set up Virtual Environments in Visual Studio Code for Jupyter Notebooks

How to Set up Virtual Environments in Visual Studio Code for Jupyter Notebooks

As a data scientist or software engineer, you are likely familiar with Jupyter notebooks, a popular tool for creating and sharing interactive data visualizations and machine learning models. One of the benefits of using Jupyter notebooks is the ability to create and switch between virtual environments, which allow you to isolate your Python environment and dependencies for each project. However, if you are using Jupyter notebooks in Visual Studio Code (VS Code), you may have noticed that it does not always use the active virtual environment. In this article, we will explore how to set up virtual environments in VS Code for Jupyter notebooks to ensure that you are using the correct environment for your project.

What Is a Virtual Environment?

Before we dive into the specifics of setting up virtual environments in VS Code, let’s first define what a virtual environment is and why it is important. A virtual environment is a self-contained Python environment that allows you to install packages and dependencies specific to a particular project, without affecting your system’s global Python environment. This allows you to work on multiple projects with different dependencies without worrying about conflicts between packages.

Setting Up Virtual Environments in VS Code

VS Code has built-in support for virtual environments, which makes it easy to create and switch between environments. Here’s how to set up virtual environments in VS Code for Jupyter notebooks:

Step 1: Install the Python Extension

The first step is to install the Python extension for VS Code, which provides support for Python development in VS Code. To install the extension, follow these steps:

1. Open VS Code
2. Click on the Extensions icon in the left-hand side menu (or press Ctrl+Shift+X on Windows or Cmd+Shift+X on Mac)
3. Search for Python in the search bar
4. Click Install next to the Python extension

Step 2: Create a Virtual Environment

Once you have installed the Python extension, you can create a virtual environment for your project. To create a virtual environment, follow these steps:

1. Open VS Code
2. Click on the Terminal menu in the top menu bar and select New Terminal
3. In the terminal, navigate to the directory where you want to create the virtual environment
4. Type the following command to create a new virtual environment: python -m venv <name_of_virtual_environment>
5. Press Enter

For example, if you wanted to create a virtual environment called myenv in your home directory, you would type:

cd ~
python -m venv myenv

Step 3: Activate the Virtual Environment

Once you have created the virtual environment, you need to activate it. To activate the virtual environment, follow these steps:

1. In the terminal, navigate to the directory where you created the virtual environment

2. Type the following command to activate the virtual environment:

   • On Windows: <name_of_virtual_environment>\Scripts\activate
   • On Mac/Linux: source <name_of_virtual_environment>/bin/activate

For example, if you created a virtual environment called myenv in your home directory, you would type:

cd ~
source myenv/bin/activate

Step 4: Install Jupyter Notebook

Now that you have activated the virtual environment, you can install Jupyter Notebook and any other packages you need for your project. To install Jupyter Notebook, follow these steps:

1. In the terminal, make sure your virtual environment is activated (you should see the name of the virtual environment in the terminal prompt)
2. Type the following command to install Jupyter Notebook: pip install jupyter

Step 5: Start Jupyter Notebook

Now that you have installed Jupyter Notebook, you can start it and begin working on your project. To start Jupyter Notebook, follow these steps:

1. In the terminal, make sure your virtual environment is activated (you should see the name of the virtual environment in the terminal prompt)
2. Type the following command to start Jupyter Notebook: jupyter notebook

Step 6: Configure VS Code to Use the Virtual Environment

By default, VS Code will use the global (system-wide) Python environment when you run Jupyter Notebook. To configure VS Code to use the virtual environment you just created, follow these steps:

1. Open VS Code
2. Click on the Command Palette icon in the left-hand side menu (or press Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows or Cmd+Shift+P on Mac)
3. Type Python: Select Interpreter in the search bar and select it
4. A list of available Python interpreters will appear. Select the interpreter associated with your virtual environment (it should be located in the <name_of_virtual_environment>/bin directory)
5. VS Code will now use the selected interpreter when you run Jupyter Notebook

By adhering to these steps, you can establish a virtual environment for purposes other than notebook tasks, such as debugging or executing Python scripts.

Conclusion

In this article, we explored how to set up virtual environments in VS Code for Jupyter notebooks. By creating and activating a virtual environment for each project, you can ensure that you are using the correct Python environment and dependencies. With these steps, you should be able to use Jupyter notebooks in VS Code with confidence, knowing that you are working in a self-contained environment.

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