(Updated September 11, 2025)
Table of contents
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Overview
Quick Start
The Virtual Environment
The IDLE Editor
Overview
The Computer Science Python environment contains many libraries to support all faculty and students at Skidmore. This document provides instructions on launching the virtual environment and the IDLE (Integrated Development Learning Environment) tool.
Quick Start
The IDLE environment can be launched by selecting it in the Applications menu under Applications/Programming.
If, for some reason, the application is not listed, open a terminal window (Applications/Utilities/Terminal) and run the following. You can use the copy tool by mousing over the code and then pasting it into the terminal.
source /opt/venv_shared/bin/activate
python -m idlelib.idle
Below this line is only relevant if you’re looking for more detailed information on how the venv works.
The Virtual Environment
The virtual environment, or venv, is started with a standard command in the terminal window. With the terminal open (Applications/Utilities/Terminal) run the following.
source /opt/venv_shared/bin/activate
After that your prompt will change to reflect the environment you’re running. This environment is designed to provide a consistent workspace for all when working in Python. All necessary libraries are already available for use.
The IDLE Editor
In addition to launching from the Applications menu, the Python IDLE tool can be started from the command line after the venv is up and running by running the following.
python -m idlelib.idle
IDLE needs to be started in this way so that it’s aware of the venv and has access to the libraries.