Anaconda

1. What is Anaconda?

Source: wikimedia.org

Anaconda is an open-source Python and R distribution that includes access to different IDEs, such as Spyder and pyCharm, as well as Jupyter Notebook among others. It is aiming at simplifying package management and claims to be the “world's most popular data science plattform” (1).

2. What's included in Anaconda Distribution?

Included in the basic Anaconda distribution is the Conda package and environment management system as well as the applications Anaconda Navigator, a Powershell terminal, JupyterLab and Jupyter Notebook, as well as the Spyder IDE. These modules are briefly introduced in the following.

Conda

 “Conda is an open-source package and environment management system that runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Conda quickly installs, runs, and updates packages and their dependencies. It also easily creates, saves, loads, and switches between environments” (2) on a local computer. 

Anaconda Navigator

 “Desktop application to easily manage integrated applications, packages, and environments” (2) with a graphical user interface instead of using the command line.

Jupyter Notebook

 “Web-based, interactive computing notebook environment to edit and run human-readable documents while describing data analysis.” (3)

JupyterLab

 “Extensible Environment for interactive and reproducible computing, based on the Jupyter Notebook and Architecture.” (3)

Spyder IDE

 A scientific Integrated Python Development Environment “with advanced editing, interactive testing, debugging and runtime introspection features.” (3)

3. Basic features/properties of Anaconda

The three main features Anaconda claims is that the distribution is

1. "open-source",
2. "user-friendly" and
3. "trusted".

This means that the code is freely accessible and assessable for projects in any field. Moreover, the intuitive platform allows for easy package and environment handling, all while the “securely hosted packages and artifacts are methodically tested and regularly updated” (2) to avoid conflicts, bugs or scams.

References

(1) https://www.anaconda.com/

(2) https://www.anaconda.com/products/distribution

(3) https://docs.anaconda.com/navigator/overview/

(4) https://www.anaconda.com/pricing#

(5) https://www.dominodatalab.com/data-science-dictionary/anaconda/