Tag Archives: Confused

More thoughts on Python – Virtual Environment

Leave a reply

Bottom Line Up Front: Experienced Pytonistas say to use Virtual Environments. Very few say how in relation to your project, or where things should be stored. Store the project code outside the virtual environment folder.

Again going back to “Thoughts on Python”, one of the things that Wyatt suggested, was to use Virtual Environments for all my projects. When I started on rebuilding my page_watcher program, that watches parked domains for being moved to live sites, I thought hey why not.

Al Sweigart and Ryan Mitchell both mention using Virtual Environments in their books. But as far as I read in either, only as a passing mention with no in-depth information. Google shows  there are a lot of tutorials online about using Virtual Environments, and I won’t re-hash those.

Now like I said there are some Python Virtual Environment Tutorials out there that seem pretty good. I read through the Real Python Primer first, and started setting up my first environment.

But things went sideways.

I had to install updates and new packages. So while I fighting with Ubuntu’s automated software updater getting in the way,  and trying to install what I needed; I watched Corey Schafer’s Python Tutorial: virtualenv and why you should use virtual environments. Around the 8 minute and 30 seconds mark he points out that you shouldn’t use the virtualenv to hold your project code. But not where the project code should be stored.

I had already started to write the code in the Virtual Environment folder, from within the virtual environment. Only one of those two actions were right. So I had to stop and back out. But then the question came up, “where does one store project code wile using virtual environments?” Nothing I had came across really explained where to store the code. I tried asking on twitter but got no results. So, back to Google for  more reading from links.

The two best blog posts I found that answered that was one by Vanessa Osuka at Code Like a Girl, A Guide to Virtual Environments in Python. and one just as good by Chris Warrick, Python Virtual Environments in Five Minutes. They both covered the same information. Ms. Osuka covered it a little earlier in her article, than Mr. Warrick did. But Mr. Warrick did so with a better example.

I’m still not sure how I’m going to set it up. Mainly because wrappers and not wanting to maintain multiple alias files (since I work on one of about 6 different computers / environments on any given project). But at least I know not to store the project in the virturalenv folder, and but instead in it’s own place (usually ~/bin/project_name).

Thoughts on Python

Leave a reply

I’ve been trying pick up more Python again. It’s hard, having to constantly put it on the back burner for college classes.  I get a little more retained each time at least.

A couple of weeks ago, @WyattRoersma posted an interesting link from Real Python about publishing to PyPI. Which led to a great conversation. I was curious if I should post something. I wrote a quick and dirty module to import required proxy info for the boxes I use at work. Scrubbing it to share wasn’t that hard. But wondered if it was worth sharing to PyPI. To be honest I only wrote it because I was tried of having to copy and paste the same code from a file on my desktop every time I wanted to use it.

Anyway Wyatt offered to review some of what I wrote on his twitch channel. I didn’t get to see the show live, I had to watch later. Man, it was brutal. I knew I was bad, but I didn’t know I was that bad. He didn’t look at the code I wanted but instead looked at some of my older code. My one per environment (Windows, Cygwin, Linux) ping code. He made some great suggestions.

Since then, the first thing I did, was stop using Notepad++ and Vim for coding. I’ve installed Atom. I’ve installed some Linters, I didn’t even know what those were, that really helped with things like following pep8, one of Wyatt’s biggest comments about my code. However, Automate the Boring Stuff with Python, doesn’t teach pep8. Which of course means that I’m now trying to learn Python, AND break bad habits.

Atom might be a bit of a crutch. It has spell checking which my code did badly on in the comments. It also has a linter catch not matching pep8, plus an autopep8 on save option. Really that one gets used for spacing on multi-line commands. I think I’m learning to make things a little more pythonic, but not sure. Though I apparently need to  use m ore modules.

I will say this, in the last 3 weeks, coding Python has become fun again.

A little confused about Digital Forensics and the tools to use

Leave a reply

So I took Digital Forensics 1 at Eastern. The professor that taught the class owns his own forensics business. One of the things the professor kept repeating through out the semester: “You can’t use Open Source Tools for Forensics, it won’t stand up in court”. “You have to use Court approved tools, tools that the court has accepted in previous trials”.

Tonight, we started Digital Forensics 2. It’s a different professor. This one does Digital Forensics for a living as well for the Department of Justice. He said that you can use Open Source tools for Forensics, does so regularly, and testifies in court for it. This professor said there are no such thing as court approved tools, even though that Encase claims otherwise in their marketing material.

So I’m confused. Can you or can you not use Open Source tools Digital Forensics? I know there are books on the subject like Digital Forensics with Open Source Tools by Cory Altheid, but don’t know how it’s viewed over all when using Open Source tools.