What is PIP and How to Install pip3? (The easy way!)

What is PIP and How to Install pip3? (The easy way!) - Image #1

A good programming language is hard to find, but if you’re serious about being a programmer or web developer, and you’ve already got your hands on some great web hosting to store all those websites you’ll end up burning through in your early days, it definitely helps to know more than one language. Python is a great programming language for beginners, because it’s less intimidating than most of the other languages you’ll eventually have to work your way through. And if you want to get better at Python, you’ll want to install PIP3. (And yes, PIP is better than easy_install.)

What is PIP?

PIP is a package manager for Python, which means it allows you to install and manage libraries and dependencies that are supplemental to the standard library. (A package contains all the files you need for a module, and modules are Python code libraries that you can include in your projects.)

The Python standard library already comes chock full of packages and modules to help with your scripts and applications, but because the Python community is super active, people are constantly developing additional packages to make things easier. PIP is to Python what npm is to JavaScript and gem is to Ruby.

Why install pip3 instead of using easy_install?

It’s definitely worth your time to install pip3. Remember: PIP was designed to be a replacement for easy_install and to solve many of the problems it caused.

Here are some more reasons you should definitely install pip3:

  • Because all packages are downloaded before installation, you never run into the problem of installations being only partially completed.
  • When you install pip3, you can more easily keep track of why you wanted to install a package in the first place, because PIP keeps track of that information.
  • The error messages speed up the learning process and make it easier to figure out why things might have gone wrong.
  • Packages can be installed flat and don’t need to be installed as egg packages.
  • With pip3, it’s easier to define fixed requirements, so you can reliably produce packages.
  • The distribute package that included easy_install is no longer maintained. Instead, it was absorbed into setuptools. So, if you try to install distribute, you’ll only end up installing setuptools instead.
  • Even easy_install itself is only partially
  • All the advantages that easy_install used to have over PIP are no longer relevant. PIP3 has evolved so much that it’s now far superior to easy_install.
  • PIP3 makes it easy to clone your site-packages: It builds a requirements file then installs it with a single command on each side.

All of these benefits make it totally worth it to install pip3.

Is it difficult to install pip3?

Not at all! Python is a programming language whose whole reason for existence revolves around user-friendliness. You don’t have to be at all intimidated by the fact that you’ll need to install pip3.

Things to bear in mind before you install pip3:

  • To be able to code, you’ll need a powerful operating system, like Linux. This is why it’s best to go for a VPS hosting plan rather than a shared hosting plan when you’re getting into programming. With a VPS hosting plan, you can customize your server to match your required specifications.
  • It can take a while to completely install pip3, so be sure to clear some time in your schedule to facilitate this.
  • After you install pip3, you’ll need to configure it, so set aside time for this, as well. 

How to install pip3

  1. Download the 64-bit installer for Python 3.6.5 by clicking here.
  2. When prompted, click the checkbox next to Add Python 3.x to PATH.
  3. Verify installation by launching a terminal and entering this command: python

If you’ve successfully installed Python3, the program should run, and you’ll now have access to pip3!

How to configure pip3

  1. Put your cursor in a console window and type the following: pip3 install –user pybin
  2. Press Enter

If your path has been correctly configured, you’ll get a message to that effect. If your path has been incorrectly configured, you’ll get a report stating that the program isn’t in PATH. And if you get a report like that, do this:

  1. Type the following: python3 -m pybin put
  2. Press Enter

And you’re done!

The wrap-up

Python is one of the most intuitive programming languages for beginners, and it’s just generally a great programming language to have under your belt. To get the most out of it, you’ll definitely want to get solid web hosting and install pip3 using this easy guide.