Recently I posted a blog about using Emacs and Python together. It was about having setting in your .emacs file allowing Emacs to interact with the default Python and SciPy/NumPy from the Ubuntu repositories, which is out of date. After changing Python version to Anaconda Python this broke all my Emacs setup! It was a real pain to fix so I’ve collected the main ideas here.
Anaconda Python
To use the latest versions of the Python packages like SciPy and NumPy I downloaded the Anaconda Python distribution. It includes lots of the most useful Python packages for scientific computing by default such as
- Numba and Cython for speeding up code.
- SymPy for symbolic computation.
- F2Py for converting Fortran code.
- IPython for a better interactive experience.
- mpi for parallel computing.
- PEP8 and PyFlakes to enforce coding standards.
I’d really recommend it as an easy way to get a good Python install. You can also pay extra for upgrades like linking NumPy with MKL for enhanced speed (which is free for academics).
Sam Relton's Blog 