All the Python packages you install will be virtually contained within a particular virtual environment you create and will not mess with the things outside. Virtual environment is a super useful tool to keep things clean and separate. This should tell the version of pip and the version of Python it’s linked to. You can check whether it’s correctly linked to Python3 by typing This will install the package manager for Python3. You can check whether it’s correctly installed by typing python3 on the terminal. This will install latest version of Python for you. It will install brew and only the necessary xcode command line tools. Open up Terminal and enter the above command. So, the bottom line is you will be pretty much fine without Xcode. I was running Python scripts fine without actually installing Xcode and also Xcode is a heavy piece of software to run. But I don’t think it’s absolutely necessary. I have seen people recommending to install Xcode (an IDE for developers from Apple) as the first thing to do. But with some changes in the way we interact through commands.įor example, instead of apt-get package manager we have brew (HomeBrew) here. So, luckily we have the same terminal we are all familiar with. It turns out that macOS is also a Unix based Operating System. On Ubuntu, we all know that we can just go to the terminal and sudo apt-get install. Depending on your area of interest the list may vary. These are the basic things I work with for Computer Vision. This is not an exhaustive list by any means. Someone coming from Ubuntu background, completely new to macOS, just want to set things up for deep learning and doesn’t want to feel “I wish I didn’t pick up a MacBook”.įollowing are the basic softwares/packages you need for deep learning. Some of the process may not be the efficient / optimized way but the goal here is to get the job done with minimal efforts / frustration. I am documenting the process I followed to get things working.

I decided to put together a simple setup guide to get the deep learning environment (particularly for Computer Vision) up and running on macOS the easy way. I had to look around and experiment to install all the packages I was enjoying on Ubuntu.

This is from a long time Ubuntu user who recently picked up a MacBook Air for all the portability it has to offer.

Setting up deep learning environment the easy way on macOS High Sierra

High sierra xcode version