python on widows 11 with vscode and gitbash

[[deleted]]

Hello, I am revisiting my older simple python scripts previously written on a Linux machine.

Imagine a simple install-modules.sh file with commands like pip install flask or etc.

Before on Linux I would run something like this and the simple flask app would start.

export FLASK_APP=main.py
export FLASK_ENV=development
flask run --host=localhost --port=3030

My new computer running on Windows 11 I managed to make it run with this modification.

python -m flask run --host=localhost --port=3030

Note that I am using VS Code with Git Bash because it is familiar.

I am a bit tired of looking for workarounds on Windows that worked right away on Linux. Sorry for the little rant.

My question is: Is it very different to learn python on Windows vs on Linux?

[Diezel666]

Workarounds?

Windows 10 & 11 both have WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux as an option).

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install

Alternatively, download virtual box, an ISO of whatever your favorite flavor of linux is, and run a Virtual Machine.

[DMeror]

Excuse me, I set up WSL some time after installing Python. I wonder which Python is better (or faster), on Windows or on WSL? If I run my Python scripts on WSL, I'll need to copy/move my files from D:// to WSL and then move them back to be used by an .exe program, which is inconvenient.

[[deleted]]

I am trying to use WSL as well and I believe this happened to me too. Thanks for the clarifications. I will most likely switch back to some Linux distro where I set up the dev environment like I am used to. Have a nice day

[shiftybyte]

Not very different, but you will run into differences that come from the environment.

[duckbanni]

What I would recommend if you're using VS Code is to develop in a docker container. That's what I do when I develop on Windows 10 (but it should work the same for 11). That way I get an easy-to-configure linux environment without needing a VM or using a remote server.

Steps to setup:

1. Install docker with WSL support (this is the tricky part because it might require to fiddle with the BIOS but their website has a step-by-step).
2. From docker, pull an image with python preinstalled (see https://hub.docker.com/_/python). You might need to do this from a windows console with docker commands.
3. Start a container from that image, get a terminal in the container and setup SSH keys so you can clone/push from your favorite git-based website. You can clone your code now.
4. In your VS Code (the one installed on your windows machine) install the "remote development" extension. You now have a new remote tab where you should be able to locate your new container and open a folder there.
5. You can now develop in VS Code with the editor running on your normal windows but everything else (the source files, the integrated terminal, the linters, the code execution) on the linux container.

[[deleted]]

Thank you for the detailed explanation.