TL;DR setup guide
$ pip install special
Installation and dependencies
The benefits of using a Python package manager (distribution), such as (ana)conda or Canopy, are many. Mainly, it brings easy and robust package management and avoids messing up with your system’s default python. An alternative is to use package managers like apt-get for Ubuntu or Homebrew/MacPorts/Fink for macOS. We recommend using Miniconda.
special
depends on existing packages from the Python ecosystem, such as
numpy
, scipy
, matplotlib
, pandas
and astropy
. There are different ways of
installing special
suitable for different scenarios.
Using pip
The easiest way to install special
is through the Python Package Index, aka
PyPI, with the pip
package manager. Simply run:
$ pip install special
With pip
you can easily uninstall, upgrade or install a specific version of
special
. For upgrading the package run:
$ pip install --upgrade special
Alternatively, you can use pip install
and point to the GitHub repo:
$ pip install git+https://github.com/VChristiaens/special.git
Using the setup.py file
You can download special
from its GitHub repository as a zip file. A setup.py
file (setuptools) is included in the root folder of special
. Enter the package’s
root folder and run:
$ python setup.py install
Using Git
If you plan to contribute or experiment with the code you need to make a fork of the repository (click on the fork button in the top right corner) and clone it:
$ git clone https://github.com/<replace-by-your-username>/special.git
If you do not create a fork, you can still benefit from the git
syncing
functionalities by cloning the repository (but will not be able to contribute):
$ git clone https://github.com/VChristiaens/special.git
Before installing the package, it is highly recommended to create a dedicated conda environment to not mess up with the package versions in your base environment. This can be done easily with (replace spec_env by the name you want for your environment):
$ conda create -n spec_env python=3.9 ipython
Note: installing ipython while creating the environment with the above line will
avoid a commonly reported issue which stems from trying to import special
from
within a base python2.7 ipython console.
To install special
, simply cd into the special directory and run the setup file
in ‘develop’ mode:
$ cd special
$ python setup.py develop
If cloned from your fork, make sure to link your special directory to the upstream source, to be able to easily update your local copy when a new version comes out or a bug is fixed:
$ git add remote upstream https://github.com/VChristiaens/special.git
Loading special
Finally, start Python or IPython and check that you are able to import special
:
import special
Now you can start characterizing exoplanets and other (sub)stellar objects!