DEV Community: Keanu Dirkse

What IDE do you use?

Keanu Dirkse — Sun, 28 Jul 2024 17:03:54 +0000

Hi everyone!

I'm curious to see what IDEs are popular in the community right now. I'm currently using VS Code and enjoying it, but I'm also learning how to use neovim

I'd love to hear about your experiences with different IDEs. What are you using? What do you love about it? Any recommendations for someone trying to decide between a few options?

Python virtual Environments

Keanu Dirkse — Sat, 27 Jul 2024 16:39:00 +0000

TL;DR

Essentially this allows you to create an isolated environment for each python application you create. Meaning each application can use difference libraries or even different version of the same library without interfering with each other.

What is VENV

A python virtual environment or VENV is a lightweight self-contained directory tree that contains a Python installation for a particular version of python, plus a number of additional packages.

Each python application you create can use its own virtual environment. This resolves the problem of conflicting requirements between applications.

The venv module is used to create the virtual environment.

How to install venv

pip install virtualenv

Create a virtual environment

python -m venv /path/to/new/virtual/environment

Use a virtual environment

For Linux or Mac OS your new venv can be activated by using this command:

source /path/to/new/virtual/environment/bin/activate

For windows:

\path\to\new\virtual\environment\Scripts\activate.bat

Once activated you should be able to install libraries via pip like you normally would but it will now be installed into you virtual environment

Exiting your virtual environment

Just like with activation venv provides a handy deactivate script. For Linux or Mac OS your new venv can be deactivated by using this command:

deactivate

or if that does not work:

source /path/to/new/virtual/environment/bin/deactivate

For windows:

\path\to\new\virtual\environment\Scripts\deactivate.bat

Why should you use a virtual environment

When you run Python and its libraries from the system, you are restricted to a specific Python version chosen by your operating system. This approach can lead to version conflicts among the libraries when running multiple Python applications on the same installation. Additionally, modifying the system Python may disrupt other OS features that rely on it. Using a virtual environment isolates each application thus solving this problem.

How to update your npm packages with npm-check

Keanu Dirkse — Sun, 21 Jul 2024 12:32:03 +0000

A quick guide to updating all of your outdated npm packages using npm-check

How to use npm-check

See what is outdated

npx npm-check

npm-check is a tool that checks for outdated, incorrect, and unused dependencies. This will tell you if anything needs updating. The above command will run the tool via npx.

NPX stands for Node Package execute. It allows developers to run any Javascript package on NPM without needing to install the package first

Update packages via npm-check

Interactive update

npx npm-check -u

This allows you to choose which packages to update

Update all

npx npm-check -y

This will update all your packages without prompting you. Use with caution as some updates may include breaking changes

Updating using npm update

npm update --save

This updates the package.json to use the latest versions of their dependencies. It is worth noting that this will avoid updating to a major breaking change version.