The Python Package Manager

Python comes in many versions and installs for different operating systems; each one is called a Python distribution. The Python distribution that you have is dependent on the version and the operating system you have. All of the different Python versions come with the standard library of built-in modules. You have already been introduced to the sys and os modules as two of the more important built-in modules. In addition to those, there are many third-party packages that can expand functionality. ArcPy is a third-party Python package that is installed with ArcGIS Desktop and ArcGIS Pro.

When you install ArcGIS Pro, you also install a custom Python distribution that works with ArcGIS Pro; for ArcGIS Pro 2.9, that is Python 3.7.11, at time of writing. This distribution includes all the standard libraries and packages, including ArcPy. To manage all of the different packages, ArcGIS Pro uses a package manager called conda. In addition to managing packages...