Is a cloned Conda environment Similar to a Python virtual environment
Question:
Is a cloned conda environment similar to a Python Virtual Environment?
conda create --clone arcgispro-py3 --name arcgispro-py3_clone
Or are there any benefits to create a Visual Environment for this cloned environment?
Answers:
I think I understand what you’re asking. "virtual environment" when it comes to python usually refers to python environments created using virtualenv specifically. You could consider conda environments "virtual environments" as well, but that just gets confusing to refer to them that way and people don’t do that. Say "conda environment".
Conda is its own environment and package manager, it can be used in place of virtualenv in a lot of cases. As with most things with overlapping (and largely incompatible) use, there are pros and cons to using one over the other. Since I don’t know your use case, I don’t know which might be right for you.
You shouldn’t create a virtual environment from your conda environment. That would probably just cause a mess down the road. Either use a system python to create a virtualenv or use conda to create a conda environment, I don’t recommend mixing them.
Is a cloned conda environment similar to a Python Virtual Environment?
conda create --clone arcgispro-py3 --name arcgispro-py3_clone
Or are there any benefits to create a Visual Environment for this cloned environment?
I think I understand what you’re asking. "virtual environment" when it comes to python usually refers to python environments created using virtualenv specifically. You could consider conda environments "virtual environments" as well, but that just gets confusing to refer to them that way and people don’t do that. Say "conda environment".
Conda is its own environment and package manager, it can be used in place of virtualenv in a lot of cases. As with most things with overlapping (and largely incompatible) use, there are pros and cons to using one over the other. Since I don’t know your use case, I don’t know which might be right for you.
You shouldn’t create a virtual environment from your conda environment. That would probably just cause a mess down the road. Either use a system python to create a virtualenv or use conda to create a conda environment, I don’t recommend mixing them.