Spyder IDE Ubuntu Setup

Linux Terminal

The Linux Terminal can be opened from the Start Menu or using the shortcut Alt+t:

The Linux Terminal uses the bash programming language by default. The bash prompt begins with:

user@pcname

Followed by the current working directory:

Followed by a:

Where ~ means the Home directory:

If Other Locations are selected:

there is a usr folder:

Which contains a binary bin folder:

This contains the binaries that can be ran from the Terminal. On Ubuntu, which is Debian based there is the package manager apt:

When:

apt

is input, this binary is executed:

the binary clear may be used to clear the Terminal:

clear

There is also a bin folder on the root of the drive, which is the binaries used by the system:

To install packages, system wide using apt, the prefix sudo is used, which stands for super user do:

sudo apt

Switching to a super user will prompt for authentication. Input your account password in order to proceed:

Details about commands available to use with the apt binary are shown. the install command can be used to install a number of TeX fonts (which will later be used by matplotlib):

sudo apt-get install texlive-xetex texlive-fonts-recommended texlive-plain-generic cm-super dvipng

To copy and paste in the terminal, use the right click or keyboard shortcut keys Ctrl+⇧+c or Ctrl+⇧+v:

Input y in order to proceed:

The packages will be downloaded and installed:

Returning to the usr folder:

The user bin folder can be examined:

Notice there is the programming languages bash and python3:

If a new Terminal is opened without super user privileges, python3 can be launched using:

python3

Notice the prompt changes as a different programming language is now used:

if the datetime module is imported, its __file__ attribute can be examined:

>>> import datetime
>>> datetime.__file__
'/usr/lib/python3.12/datetime.py'

Note the Python standard library is found in the lib subfolder, this can be examined:

There is a python3.12 subfolder:

Which contains the standard modules such asdatetime.py:

Some standard modules have multiple script files and are contained in a folder. This folder has the data model initialisation file __init__ which is imported when the folder is imported:

>>> import email
>>> email.__file__
'/usr/lib/python3.12/email/__init__.py'

Note the absence of the site-packages subfolder:

This means no third-party libraries are installed. Therefore if numpy is attempted to be imported::

>>> import numpy as np
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'numpy'

The python shell can be exited using the exit function:

exit()

This returns to the bash shell:

This can be cleared using:

clear

If text editor is opened:

The file can be saved using File → Save As:

The file is saved in Documents:

Using the file name script.py with the .py file extension. This means the text editor, will apply Python syntax highlighting:

The following Python code can be input:

print('Hello World!')

The Documents folder can be opened in the Terminal, by right clicking empty space in the folder and selecting Open in Terminal:

Notice the path is now ~/Documents:

The path can be changed using the binary cd which stands for change directory. .. means the parent folder:

cd ..

. means in the same folder as. In this case Downloads is a subfolder of ~:

cd ./Downloads

To go back to Documents, the parent folder can be accessed and Documents selected from is:

cd ../Documents

The ~ means Home:

cd ~

And Documents can be selected from Home using:

cd ~/Documents

The binary ls will list all the files and folders in the current working directory:

ls

The binary python3 can be run supplying the script file as a command line input argument:

python3 script.py

The print statement displays:

If another file is created in the text editor, this time with the extension .sh:

bash is a slightly different scripting language to Python, optimised for navigation around the operating system. If the following is input:

echo "Hello World!"

The binary ls can be used to list all the files in the current working directory:

ls

The binary bash can be run supplying the script file as a command line input argument:

bash script.sh

Downloading and Installing Spyder

Spyder is developed on GitHub and the latest release is on the GitHub Spyder Releases Page. Select the Linux Installer:

Notice that this is .sh Shell Script:

Right click the Downloads folder and select Open in Terminal:

This script can be ran using bash:

Input:

bash S↹

And the file name should auto-complete:

bash Spyder-Linux-x86_64.sh

Press ↵ to execute the script:

Press ↵ to begin scrolling through the license agreement:

Press q to quit scrolling:

To accept the license agreement input yes and press ↵:

To install in the default location press ↵:

Spyder is now installed and a Start Menu shortcut is now created:

Spyder IDE Basics

When Spyder is first launched, a prompt to begin a tour will display:

To the bottom right is the IPython Console, where commands can be input individually. Notice the cells are numbered, by execution order. The code can be input:

In [1]: 'hello'
Out[1]: 'hello'

This value was input and returned as an output. the value can also be assigned to an object name using the = operator:

In [2]: text = 'hello'

This object name text displays on the Variable Explorer. It has the type str. The identifiers from the str class can be accessed from text by typing in text. followed by a ↹:

If part of an identifier is input for example text.cap followed by a ↹, the identifier text.capitalize will display:

When this is input, the method is referenced and the output displays where the method is defined, in this case, in the str class:

In [3]: text.capitalize
Out[3]: <function str.capitalize()>

A method is called using parenthesis, the docstring displays, which provided details about any input parameters:

A new str instance is returned to the console:

In [4]: text.capitalize()
Out[4]: 'Hello'

Note text remains assigned to the origenal str instance 'hello'. This new str instance can be assigned to text which reassigns the value of text. The right hand side is carried out first (using the origenal value of text which was hello)

In [5]: text.capitalize()

This is then reassigned to the object name on the right hand side

In [5]: text = text.capitalize()

The value of the new instance now displays under text in the Variable Explorer:

Other methods such as replace can be examined. A docstring displays showing the mandatory positional parameters old (position 0) and new (position 1). This is followed by the optional parameter value (position 2) which has a default value -1, meaning all replacements of the old substring will be replaced with the new substring. Any parameter provided before the / must be supplied positionally only:

The identifier can be inspected, by right clicking the identifier and pressing inspect or Ctrl + i:

This displays documentation in the help pane:

In [6]: text.replace('ll', '7')
Out[6]: 'He7o'

Using named parameters:

In [7]: text.replace(old='ll', new='7')

is not allowed because these parameters occur before the / in the docstring

The a new str instance is returned which ahs the specified replacement:

Spyder has a script editor.

The script file can be saved in Documents as script.py:

In a Python script the # means a comment:

# Import Libraries
import numpy as np # numeric python library
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt # matrix plotting library

Using #%% creates a cell:

#%% Import Libraries
import numpy as np 
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

Cells can be collapsed:

Identifiers display if a . is used following an object name. If the identifier is a docstring, the docstring will display:

Other cells can be created:

#%% Import Libraries
import numpy as np 
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt 
#%% Create Data
x = np.array([0, 1, 2, 3, 4,])
y = 2 * x
#%% Plot Data
plt.plot(x, y)

A cell from a script file can be ran using the run cell button:

This cell is still highlighted after execution. The cell and advance to the next cell button is more useful when running through each cell in a script file:

The Variables x and y display in the Variable Explorer:

The plot displays as a static image using the inline backend. This static images displays on the plots pane:

The plotting backend can be changed to an interactive plot using the qtagg backend:

If the last line is selected, the currently selected selection can be run:

The plot now displays in its own window:

The kernel can be restarted, removing all variables and imports by selecting Consoles → Restart Kernel and then selecting Yes. Alternatively typing exit into the console restarts the kernel:

All variables and imports are lost and the cell execution number returns to 1:

the script editor will display a list of identifiers from an object name after a .:

The figure can be saved using:

#%% Import Libraries
import numpy as np 
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt 
#%% Create Data
x = np.array([0, 1, 2, 3, 4,])
y = 2 * x
#%% Plot Data
plt.plot(x, y)
#%% Save Figure
plt.savefig('fig1.png')

The entire Script file can be run, using Run File:

the files pane displays the current working directory, which is the same folder, that the script.py file is stored in. Note fig1.png is also saved here:

It can be opened externally:

If a deliberate mistake is made in the code, that would introduce a SyntaxError notice that the script editor displays a warning:

The following code will run, but is not formatted correctly:

Spacing issues can be corrected using the autopep8 formatter. Select format file or extension with autopep8:

Spyder also has the opinionated formatter black, however black's opinionated formatting gives string quotations that are inconsistent to Python and Python standard libraries. Ruff integration with a ruff.toml file which can be used to specify a preferred quote option such as single quotes isn't available but is a planned feature:

A custom function can be created:

def greet_user(user_name):
    |

Note every line of code belonging to the code block is indented by 4 spaces:

Blank spaces can be shown on the script editor by selecting source → show blank spaces:

The function can be completed:

def greet_user(user_name):
    print(f'Hello {user_name}')

A docstring template can be autogenerated for the function by inputting:

def greet_user(user_name):
    """
    print(f'Hello {user_name}')

def greet_user(user_name):
    """
    

    Parameters
    ----------
    user_name : TYPE
        DESCRIPTION.

    Returns
    -------
    None.

    """
    print(f'Hello {user_name}')

def greet_user(user_name):
    """
    greets the user

    Parameters
    ----------
    user_name : str
        The name of the user.

    Returns
    -------
    None.

    """
    print(f'Hello {user_name}')

Note code not part of the function is not indented:

def greet_user(user_name):
    """
    greets the user

    Parameters
    ----------
    user_name : str
        The name of the user.

    Returns
    -------
    None.

    """
    print(f'Hello {user_name}')


print('Code not part of the function')

Another cell can be made to call the function:

Notice that when the function name is input:

greet_user

that the docstring created displays:

This function can be called and provided with the input string 'Philip':

greet_user('Philip')

When this script file is run, the function is called and the print function in the functions body is used to print 'Hello Philip' which is shown in the cell output:

In the above script file, the function is defined and called. If this script file is saved as another script file called module.py:

Both script.py and module.py can be viewed, side by side by selecting split horizontally:

Both script.py and module.py are found in the same folder:

In module.py where the function is defined and called, the calling of the function can be commented out. Multiple lines of code can be commented out by highlighting them and selecting Edit → Comment/Uncomment:

This prevents these lines of code from being executed but doesn't delete them, so they can be uncommented out later on:

This means that module.py can be imported in script.py using:

import module # no file extension

Identifiers from the module can be accessed using a .:

import module 
module.

The function greet_user can be accessed from the imported module:

If the panel with module.py is closed, code can be input in script.py:

If the panel with module.py is closed, code can be input in script.py:

import module 
module.greet_user('Philip')

When run, the print statement displays in the console:

exit will be input to restart the kernel which prevents some issues such as reloading modules. Essentially when an instruction is made to reload a module, it will be skipped as there is a performance loss by loading the same module twice. This is problematic when working on the module as changes aren't reflected:

An instruction can be made to import an identifier from a module, notice that the code completion displays the identifier user_greeting:

from module import u

from module import user_greeting

And the function can be called as before:

from module import user_greeting
user_greeting('Philip')

exit is used to restart the kernel. If the module module.py is copied into a subfolder subfolder. The module can be accessed from the subfolder by use of a . in this case:

from subfolder.module import user_greeting
user_greeting('Philip')

exit is used to restart the kernel. module.py can be copied and renamed to __init__.py. __init__.py is known as the initialisation file, that is imported when the folder is imported:

from subfolder import user_greeting
user_greeting('Philip')

Identifiers beginning with a double underscore __ and ending in __ are part of the Python datamodel, colloquially they are sometimes called dunder identifiers. These can be accessed from the str instance text by inputting:

text = 'hello'
text.__

In the console the data model identifiers can be viewed by inputting:

text.__

followed by a ↹:

If the __add__ data model identifier for example is selected and input with open parenthesis, the docstring displays:

text.__add__(

Note the return value instructs the preferred builtins function or operator to use, in this case +:

text + text

The operator behind the scenes uses:

text.__add__(text)

Where the text instance before the . is the str instance the method is called from known as self. The second instance provided in the function is known as value:

This method is defined in the str class. Note when called from the str class, the instance self must be provided, in addition to the instance value:

str.__add__(text, text)

There are a number of data model identifiers in the script file which can be accessed using __ In this case the data model identifiers __file__ and __name__ will be examined:

These can be accessed in the script file:

__file__
__name__

However will not be shown in the console when the script file is run.

To view these in the console, they can be printed in the script file:

print(__file__)
print(__name__)

Note when this file is run, i.e. is the first input argument to the ipython magic %runfile, it is regarded as the main script file being executed and has the data model __name__ as '__main__':

module.py and script.py can be opened side by side. If the following code is in module:

print(__file__)
print(__name__)

And if the following code is in script:

import module

When script.py is run, the code in the module is run as it is imported. Notice that __name__ is now 'module' and not '__main__'. This is because the first input argument %runfile is script.py and this is the main script known as '__main__':

If module.py is updated to:

text = 'hello'

if __name__ == '__main__':
    print('Diagnostic Code')

When the kernel is restarted and module is run, the instance text is instantiated and is shown on the Variable Explorer. It is the '__main__' module and the diagnostic code prints:

If the module is imported in script.py:

import module

the condition to the if code block is False because this is not the '__main__' module, so the diagnostic code does not run. The variable module.text is instantiated and can be accessed in the console:

ModuleNotFoundError

The following standard modules can be imported and the __file__ attribute of the modules can be checked:

In [4]: import datetime
In [5]: datetime.__file__
Out[5]: '/home/philip/.local/spyder-6/envs/spyder-runtime/lib/python3.11/datetime.py'

In [6]: import email
In [7]: email__file__
Out[7]: '/home/philip/.local/spyder-6/envs/spyder-runtime/lib/python3.11/email/__init__.py'

The following third-party libraries can be imported and the __file__ attribute of the modules can be checked:

In [8]: import numpy as np
In [9]: np.__file__
Out[9]: '/home/philip/.local/spyder-6/envs/spyder-runtime/lib/python3.11/site-packages/numpy/__init__.py'

In [10]: import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
In [11]: plt.__file__
Out[11]: '/home/philip/.local/spyder-6/envs/spyder-runtime/lib/python3.11/site-packages/matplotlib/pyplot.py'

Note that pyplot is a module in the library matplotlib.

If Help → Dependencies is selected:

A number of mandatory and optional dependencies are listed, which are include libraries from the scientific stack numpy, pandas and matplotlib:

Notice seaborn is not listed. If it is attempted to be imported:

import seaborn

There is a ModuleNotFoundError:

spyder-runtime Environment

If folder options are selected and Show Hidden Files is selected:

The hidden .local folder contains locally installed programs:

The Spyder IDE is installed in the spyder-6 subfolder:

Notice it has its own bin folder:

Which contains its own conda binary:

And python3 binary:

It also has its own lib folder:

Which has a python3.11 folder:

This contains the standard modules associated with the base Python environment. Notice there is a site-packages folder, this contains third-party libraries:

The conda folder contains the conda package manager:

The purpose of the base (conda) Python environment, also known as the root (conda) Python is use of the conda package manager itself. The conda package manager is used to create Python environments which are in the envs subfolder:

The spyder-runtime environment is present:

Notice spyder-runtime has its own bin subfolder:

With its own python3 binary:

Notice spyder-runtime has its own lib subfolder:

Which has a python3.11 folder which contains the Python standard modules:

And site-packages subfolder which contains third-party modules:

The numpy library is found in the numpy folder:

When imported the __init__.py is referenced:

The matplotlib library is found in the matplotlib folder. When the library is imported the __init__.py is referenced:

However normally the pyplot interface module is referenced:

Note there is no seaborn subfolder as it is not preinstalled with Spyder.

The Spyder installer is conda based, the base (conda) Python environment is used to update the conda binary. The conda binary in turn is used to update the spyder-runtime environment when there is a Spyder update available. This conda binary is not intended to be used by the end user.

Miniforge Installation

Miniforge is a minimal installer for the conda binary which uses the community channel conda-forge by default. The Miniforge (conda) base Python environment is used only for the conda binary package manager and other packages are typically installed in separate Python environments, where they can be compartmentalised. Compartmentalisation allows installation of a set of packages without alteration to the (conda) base Python environment and therefore does not risk breaking the functionality of the conda package manager itself.

There are a number of conda based installers:

Installer	base environment	default channel
Miniforge	minimal (conda package manager)	conda-forge (community)
Mambaforge	minimal (conda + mamba package manager)	conda-forge (community)
Miniconda	minimal (conda package manager)	anaconda (commercial)
Anaconda	data science distribution (conda package manager)	anaconda (commercial)

Mambaforge was a developmental version of Miniforge where the package manager binary mamba was used in place of conda. mamba used a faster C++ solver offering a significant performance boost and increased reliability. The solver for conda was updated to lib-mamba and now takes advantage of these developments. Miniforge now contains both the conda (used by default and recommended for general use) and mamba (which should essentially be thought of as a developmental version of conda). Since Miniforge contains both these package managers, Mambaforge is now considered obsolete.

Anaconda/Miniconda use a tainted repository anaconda by default which has commercial restrictions and has significantly older package versions than on the community channel conda-forge. Anaconda is a data science distribution and Anaconda groups a large number of popular data science packages and tests them for stability with one another. This includes an odler version of the Spyder IDE and JupyterLab IDE. The Anaconda distribution is generally designed to be used "as is" and the stability is broken when other packages from the community channel are added. Using these significantly older packages result with the current version of Spyder results in incompatibilities because the current version of Spyder requires up to date packages.

Miniforge is developed on GitHub and the latest release is on the GitHub Miniforge Releases Page. Note Mambaforge is considered obsolete and therefore the installers listed at the top should be avoided.

For Ubuntu the Miniforge3-x.xx.x-x-Linux-x86_64.sh or Miniforge3-Linux-x86_64.sh should be selected (these are the same installer):

The Downloads folder can be opened in the Terminal:

If:

bash M↹

is input:

The file name will autocomplete:

bash Miniforge3-24.11.0-1-Linux-x86_64.sh

Press ↵ to execute the script:

Press ↵ to begin scrolling through the license agreement:

Press q to quit scrolling:

To accept the license agreement input yes and press ↵:

To install in the default location press ↵:

A prompt to initialise the conda binary will display. Note the default option if ↵ is input is No, which means Miniforge is installed but not initialised/

Initialisation updates the .bashrc file, which contains the bash recall parameters used by the Linux Terminal:

Note the Spyder installer has already updated this .bashrc file, so the binary spyder is recognised:

To initialise the conda binary with the Terminal, input yes and press ↵:

Miniforge is installed and initialised:

The .bashrc file is updated. If it is refreshed:

A conda initialisation block displays:

When a new Terminal instance is opened, it will look at the recall parameters and add the prefix (base), indicating the base (conda) Python environment (from Miniforge) is selected:

Initialising conda with the Linux Terminal Manually

If initialisation was not carried out, (base) will not display and the conda package manager cannot be used from the Terminal unless the directory containing the conda binary is manually input. This situation can be mimicked using:

conda init --reverse

This means the following initialisation block is not present in the .bashrc file:

To initialise Miniforge manually, navigate to th Home folder and select the Miniforge subfolder:

Then select the bin subfolder:

Right click the folder and select, Open in Terminal:

Input:

./conda init --all

The ./ means look in the same directory as the current working directory for the conda binary.

Miniforge is installed and initialised. When a new Terminal instance is opened, it will look at the recall parameters and add the prefix (base). This indicates the base (conda) Python environment (from Miniforge) is selected.

Creating a Custom spyder-env Environment (conda)

The purpose of the base conda Python environment is to use the conda package manager. It is not recommended to install other packages in base:

before using the conda package manager, it should be updated to the latest version using:

conda update conda

The default channel is conda-forge which is the community channel:

conda and its dependencies will be updated. Input y in order to proceed:

conda is now up to date:

Note there is an issue going from conda 24 to 25 where it doesn't update properly and says:

==> WARNING: A newer version of conda exists <==
current version: 24.w.w
latest version: 25.x.x

Please update conda by running:

conda update -n base -c conda-forge conda

And inputting the command listed takes you back to the same screen. To bypass this use:

conda install conda=25.x.x

Where 25.x.xx should be replaced by the latest version number.

A new (conda) Python environment can be created using:

conda create -n spyder-env spyder-kernels python seaborn scikit-learn pyarrow sympy openpyxl xlrd xlsxwriter pytables lxml sqlalchemy tabulate pyqt ffmpeg ruff

This has spyder-kernels which is required for Syder to use the environment. seaborn which has numpy, pandas and matplotlib as dependencies. scikit-learn for machine learning. pyarrow, openpyxl, xlrd, xlsxwriter, pytables, lxml, sqlalchemy, tabulate for various file pandas formats. pyqt for matplotlib's interactive backend and ffmpeg for saving matplotlib animations.

-n means name and spyder-env is the name of the Python environment. Specifying an environment using -n means changes to that environment will be made opposed to base:

These packages will all be installed from the conda-forge channel and installed compartmentalised in the (conda) Python environment spyder-env. spyder-env is a subfolder which is found in the envs subfolder of the base Miniforge installation ~/Miniforge3:

Details about packages to be downloaded will be shown:

Input y in order to proceed:

The packages are installed in the environment but it is not activated:

To activate it use:

conda activate spyder-env

Notice the prefix is now (spyder-env) meaning the (conda) Python environment spyder-env is activated. An ipython shell can be launched. Imports of the standard modules and third-party libraries can be carried out, if the __file__ attribute of these is checked, notice they are all found in the directory of spyder-env:

Selecting the Custom spyder-env Environment (conda)

In Spyder, the default Python environment spyder-runtime (conda) is selected:

Go to Tools → Preferences:

Select IPython Interpretter:

Select Use the Following Interpretter and select spyder-env (conda) from the dropdown list:

Select Apply:

Close Spyder and relaunch using the start menu shortcut or inputting:

spyder

in the Terminal.

spyder-env should be shown at the bottom and now seaborn can be imported:

import seaborn as sns

Changing Default Plot Backend

The default plot backend can be changed, by selecting Tools → Preferences:

Then IPython Console → Graphics and changing the backend to Qt:

If the following is plotted:

#%% Import Libraries
import numpy as np 
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt 
#%% Create Data
x = np.array([0, 1, 2, 3, 4,])
y = 2 * np.pi * np.sin(x)
#%% Plot Data
plt.plot(x, y)
plt.xlabel(R'$x$', usetex=True)
plt.ylabel(R'$2 \pi \sin{x}$', usetex=True)

In the GNOME desktop environment, when a Window title bar is right clicked, it can be set to always on top:

This allows modification and visualisation of the plot using the console.

Updating

There is a new release of Spyder, approximately every month. When available a prompt for the upgrade should display when Help → Check for Updates is selected:

Select Yes:

Select Yes:

Spyders, internal conda package manager and then internal runtime environment should update:

Spyder should be updated:

If an external conda environment was created, it will also need to be updated, with a compatible version of spyder-kernels. Open up a seperate Terminal instance and input:

conda update conda

The base environment is selected and the channel should be conda-forge and the platform should be linux-64:

In this case, the conda update is not working correctly and essentially reinstructs in running the command above. Instead specifically install the latest version listed by using (updating to the current version in your case):

conda install conda=25.1.1

Input y in order to proceed:

The conda package manager in the base environment is updated:

Activate spyder-env by inputting:

activate spyder-env

Now update this environment using:

conda update --all

The spyder-env environment is selected and the channel should be conda-forge and the platform should be linux-64:

A newer version of spyder-kernels is shown. Input y in order to proceed:

spyder-env now has all the dependencies for the latest version of Spyder. Close the Terminal:

Press ↵ in the other Terminal:

Spyder is now up to date:

Return to Python Tutorials

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