Installing Python Packages – Part I

This serves as a guide for users who wish to learn how they can ‘Install Python Packages’ and also addresses the queries related to it.

Python and Python Packages

As we know, Python is an open source project. The Python developers’ community makes its codes available for others in the form of packages under the open source license.

You will have access to some in-built packages such as Pandas, NumPy by default when you install Python.

Importing Python packages

You can import these packages in your code using the following syntax.

What happens if the package is not installed?

But what about the packages that do not come along with Python installation? If you try to import such packages without installing them first you will get an error called ‘ModuleNotFoundError‘.

For example, Backtrader is a Python package used for live trading and backtesting trading strategies. You can see the error when we try to import it.

This is because ‘backtrader’ is not a built-in Python package, and we tried to import it without installing it first. But where can you find these packages and how to install them? Here’s how.

PyPI – Python Package Index

Most open source Python packages are made available through PyPI – Python Package Index. It is a repository of software for the Python programming language. You can find the packages developed and shared by the Python community here. You can also publish your package through PyPI.

To install the packages from PyPI, you will need a package installer. The recommended package installer for PyPI is ‘pip’. Pip is installed along when you install Python in your system. You need not worry about downloading or installing pip exclusively.

In the next part of this series, the author will discuss Syntax to install a package.