Question

How do I set the Pythonpath in Mac in order to be able to download new modules/packages? Please provide all steps and a very detailed example and explanation because I've never worked with Terminal windows before.

Answer 1

The PYTHONPATH variable has a value that is a string with a list of directories that Python should add to the sys.path directory list.

The main use of PYTHONPATH is when we are developing some code that we want to be able to import from Python, but that we have not yet made into an installable Python package

For MAC:-

• Open the file ~/.bash_profile in your text editor – e.g. atom ~/.bash_profile;

• Add the following line to the end:

  export PYTHONPATH="/Users/my_user/code"
  

• Save the file.

• Close Terminal.app;

• Start Terminal.app again, to read in the new settings, and type this:

  echo $PYTHONPATH
  

  It should show something like /Users/my_user/code.

OR

Step 1

Open the shell script that runs every time you access your terminal in a text editor.

In Mac OS X environments, the file is called ".profile."

Step 2

Type:

PYTHONPATH = "$ {PYTHONPATH} : /path/where/python/package/is/located/ export PYTHONPATH

For Mac OS X a typical path is "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/site-packages".

Step 3

Save the file. Changes to your path will take effect when you start a new shell.