The following folder appears to have Python installed on my Windows machine after installing PyCharm and creating a new project. Please note that I did not install the standalone Python. Is this a true Python installation or is this just how PyCharm interacts with Python? When is it appropriate to interact with Python using this folder (from command line or PyCharm)? When is it recommended to use the standalone Python install?
C:\Users\MacGyver\PycharmProjects\Example01\venv\Scripts>dir
Volume in drive C has no label.
Volume Serial Number is E0C6-8347
Directory of C:\Users\MacGyver\PycharmProjects\Example01\venv\Scripts
06/16/2020 03:03 PM <DIR> .
06/16/2020 03:03 PM <DIR> ..
06/16/2020 03:03 PM 2,306 activate
06/16/2020 03:03 PM 983 activate.bat
06/16/2020 03:03 PM 18,454 Activate.ps1
06/16/2020 03:03 PM 368 deactivate.bat
06/16/2020 03:03 PM 97,169 easy_install-3.8.exe
06/16/2020 03:03 PM 97,169 easy_install.exe
06/16/2020 03:03 PM 97,160 pip.exe
06/16/2020 03:03 PM 97,160 pip3.8.exe
06/16/2020 03:03 PM 97,160 pip3.exe
06/16/2020 03:02 PM 420,936 python.exe
06/16/2020 03:02 PM 419,912 pythonw.exe
11 File(s) 1,348,777 bytes
2 Dir(s) 1,830,408,224,768 bytes free
C:\Users\MacGyver\PycharmProjects\Example01\venv\Scripts>
Also, I did not follow the directions here. I simply installed PyCharm. So this documentation seems incorrect.
https://www.jetbrains.com/help/pycharm/quick-start-guide.html#meet
In the current structure, you have created a virtual environment for your project to start with. This virtual environment contain the python, which will be accessible when
your activate the environment by go in venv/bin and type activate.
Note in this, you can only use python when you activate the environment for this project.Also this is not global system wise environment i.e. by typing python in terminal it wont open python shell it will show unknown python command, as environment variable not set.
Also for the folder name it seem you are learning the language. So it would be better if you create a single venv for all your learning process or you can use local system installed python, where python is also set in system variable.
When is it recommended to use the standalone Python install?
not a universally acceptable, but i use standalone python, when i want to test out new libraries, do come competitive programming, do some sample python stuff, or when i am learning something related to core python or visualization programming.
in case you are working in a project, small or a large (lets say a calculator or scraping) then it is better to create a venv like your current one, and start working on that python environment.
to install python, you can go to python.org or anaconda.com. both are same just anaconda provide other features like visualization,IDE (spyder), better modules dependency and can be setup easily.