
Conda now supports PyPy builds - bratao
https://conda-forge.org/blog//2020/03/10/pypy
======
pottertheotter
I'm curious, people who use conda, what's your reason for doing so? When I
started using Python I used conda because people told me I would have a really
hard time managing packages if I didn't. I used it for quite some time, but
kept running into issues. For instance, new versions of packages would be
released and it would be forever until they were available in conda. And it
seemed every month or two conda itself would have some issue that I'd have to
spend a while troubleshooting.

Then I discovered pyenv + virtualenv. I can't think of a single issue over the
last 18 months. I can easily run any version of Python, virtual environments
are way easier to deal with, and PIP has been so much better than conda for
packages.

Is there something else I'm missing about conda? Or was conda something that
was needed and great several years ago, but not so much these days?

I'd also love to hear if there's something better than pyenv + virtualenv I
should look into.

~~~
beagle3
> and PIP has been so much better than conda for packages.

> Is there something else I'm missing about conda?

Yes. You missed pip working perfectly well inside conda since day 1 (and
integration is getting better). In the past, pip did not participate in conda
dependency resolution (and I think it still doesn't, at least not perfectly).
But it's not worse than using pip outside conda; and when you DO have a conda
package, it is usually more dependable.

> I can easily run any version of Python, virtual environments are way easier
> to deal with, and PIP has been so much better than conda for packages.

Can you run the latest Python 3.8 on your old extended-support Ubuntu Server
14.4 that you can't upgrade because reasons, on pyenv+virtualenv? Genuinely
asking; you can with conda.

~~~
Doxin
> Can you run the latest Python 3.8 on your old extended-support Ubuntu Server
> 14.4 that you can't upgrade because reasons, on pyenv+virtualenv?

Definitely. If Python 3.8 isn't available from the package repository for
ubuntu 14.04 you'll need to install it some other way -- either from source or
from a binary package someone else compiled -- after which you can simply

    
    
        python3.8 -m venv venv
    

to create a python 3.8 venv. This also works the other way around. e.g. if you
want to install an old python version on a recent system.

Of course anaconda provides python binaries itself which is mighty convenient
but it's not like it's the only way to tackle the problem.

~~~
beagle3
Ok, so that’s another good feature for conda - decoupling from the underlying
distribution. It packages Python, gcc and more. To collaborate, you just have
to distribute your environment.

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dmulholl
On the subject of PyPy, I'd never used it until a month or so ago but I've
been working on reinforcement learning models for a final year computer
engineering project and slow training times were a serious problem until I
found I could get a 10x speed boost without changing a line of code simply by
switching from the default Python interpreter to PyPy. (Average training time
dropped instantly from three minutes per episode to twenty seconds.) I'm
seriously impressed by the work the PyPy guys have done.

~~~
Raphaellll
Did you use any library?

~~~
nyanpasu64
Not parent, but in my experience, PyPy is much faster than CPython on regular
scripts, but has slower C API interop (more overhead calling Numpy).

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prpl
Just to be pedantic:

This is conda forge, which is very popular but it is not conda.

That said, I won’t be entirely surprised if there is a fork in the next 1-3
years, with conda-forge releasing miniforge.

~~~
uranusjr
To be really pedantic, Conda is a package manager, and it doesn’t really make
sense to say “Conda supports PyPy” because Conda does not even know how PyPy
is different from any other package it installs.

~~~
pletnes
Technically correct, the best kind of correct!

Conda can in fact install pypy from conda-forge, which is close enough for
most people.

~~~
sandGorgon
It's not about installing pypy.

It's making sure each package has transitive dependencies that behaves well on
pypy.

This is a huge effort.

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bratao
Here is a good place to follow the effort of packages Migrations and PyPy
support [https://conda-forge.org/status/](https://conda-forge.org/status/)

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pjmlp
Great news! Python needs more JIT love.

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vslira
Good news. Pypy is criminally underrated

