GNet Solutions » GNU/Linux Administration

This is a guide for setting up a simple development environment for Python 3.6 with virtualenv on Arch Linux.

Prepare the Environment¶

• Make sure the system is up to date:
  

  pacman -Syyuu
  

Install Python¶

• Install python and a few dependencies:
  

  pacman -S python python-{pip,pkgconfig,setuptools,virtualenv}
  

• Create a non-privileged user to develop with:
  

  useradd -m -g users -s /bin/bash -c "Python Dev" pydev
  passwd pydev
  

Create Virtualenv¶

• Switch to the python dev user:
  

  su - pydev
  

• Create a new virtualenv called new_app:
  

  virtualenv new_app
  

• Activate the new_app virtualenv to begin using it:
  

  source ./new_app/bin/activate
  

• Install or develop the new_app:
  

  pip install new_app
  

• When done working in the virtual environment for the moment, deactivate it:
  

  deactivate
  

Install Atom¶

• Install atom editor and the flake8 linter:
  

  pacman -S atom flake8
  pip install flake8-docstrings
  

• Open Atom and go to Edit -> Preferences, then select the Editor tab. Scroll down to Tab Length and set the value to 4.
  • Also make sure Soft Tabs option is checked.

• Install python-language-server:
  

  pip install python-language-server
  

• Install the ide-python and linter-flake8 atom packages:
  

  apm install ide-python linter-flake8
  

Resources¶

• https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/python
• http://docs.python-guide.org/en/latest/dev/virtualenvs/
• https://hackernoon.com/setting-up-a-python-development-environment-in-atom-466d7f48e297
• http://www.marinamele.com/install-and-configure-atom-editor-for-python
• https://atom.io/packages/linter-flake8
• https://atom.io/packages/ide-python