Quickly remove a conda environment without using conda env remove

Why would you want to do this

Removing conda environments is usually done with the following command at the terminal:

conda env remove -n some_environment_name

Sometimes, however, the command is slow.

Pages that link here

Install Anaconda on your machine
What is anaconda Anaconda is a way to get a Python installed on your system

Install Anaconda on your machine

What is anaconda

Anaconda is a way to get a Python installed on your system.

One of the neat but oftentimes confusing things about Python is that you can have multiple Python executables living around on your system. Anaconda makes it easy for you to:

  1. Obtain Python
  2. Manage different Python versions into isolated environments using a consistent interface
  3. Install packages into these environments

Why use anaconda (or one of its variants)?

Why is this a good thing? Primarily because you might have individual projects that need different version of Python and different versions of packages that are built for Python. Also, default Python installations, such as the ones shipped with older versions of macOS, tend to be versions behind the latest, which is to the detriment of your projects. Some built-in apps in an operating system may depend on that old version of Python (such as iPhoto), which means if you mess up the installation, you might break those built-in apps. Hence, you will want a tool that lets you easily create isolated Python environments.

The Anaconda Python distribution fulfills the following key needs:

  1. You'll be able to create isolated environments on a per-project basis. (see: Follow the rule of one-to-one in managing your projects)
  2. You'll be able to install packages into those isolated environments, and evolve them over time. (see: Create one conda environment per project)

Installing Anaconda on your local machine thus helps you get easy access to Python, Jupyter (see: Use Jupyter as an experimentation playground), and other tools for modelling and analysis.

How to get anaconda?

To install the Miniforge variant of Anaconda, which will be lighter-weight than the full Anaconda distribution, using the following command:

cd ~
wget "https://github.com/conda-forge/miniforge/releases/latest/download/Miniforge3-$(uname)-$(uname -m).sh" -O anaconda.sh

This will send you to your home directory, and then download the Miniforge bash script installer from Anaconda's download page as anaconda.sh.

Now, install Anaconda:

bash anaconda.sh -b -p $HOME/anaconda/

This will install the Anaconda distribution of Python onto your system inside your home directory. You can now install packages at will, without needing sudo privileges!

Next steps

Level-up your conda skills