Continuum Analytics: Documentation

# Anaconda glossary

Anaconda
  A downloadable free, open source, high performance, optimized Python and R distribution with 100+ packages plus access to easily installing an additional 620+ popular open source packages for data science including advanced and scientific analytics. It also includes conda, an open source package, dependency and environment manager. Thousands more open source packages can be installed with the `conda` command. Available for Windows, OS X and Linux, all versions are supported by the community.
Anaconda build
  A service on Anaconda Cloud that allows you to build conda packages that can be managed with conda. Contrast to conda build, which is done locally.
Anaconda Cloud
  A web-based repository hosting service in the cloud. Packages created locally can be published to the cloud to be shared with others. Free accounts on Anaconda Cloud can publish packages to be shared publicly. Paid subscriptions to Anaconda Cloud can designate packages as private to be shared with authorized users. Anaconda Cloud is Continuum Analytics’ Anaconda repository product made available to the public. Anaconda repository is also available for purchase by companies that wish to power their own on-premise version of Anaconda Cloud. See product comparison.
Anaconda Cluster Management
  The cluster manager which makes it easy to install packages, dependencies and environments on a Hadoop or a HPC cluster. The cluster manager is bundled with paid Anaconda subscriptions and integrates with the on-premises Anaconda Repository or the conda repository. The cluster manager is purchased for a specific set of nodes in the cluster. The cluster manager can be tried out by downloading the 4 node cluster manager from Anaconda Cloud.
Anaconda Navigator
  A desktop graphical user interface (GUI) included in all versions of Anaconda that allows you to easily manage conda packages, environments, channels and notebooks without the need to use the command line interface or CLI.
Anaconda Pro, Enterprise and Workgroup
  Anaconda that includes enterprise technical support for a specific number of users, and indemnification for a select number of open source packages. Anaconda Enterprise and Workgroup include collaborative notebooks, high performance scalability, Hadoop, interactive visualization, governance and security. See product comparison.
Anaconda Repository
  An enterprise server on your network from which open source and proprietary packages may be stored, retrieved and installed on a local computer. Anaconda Repository is different from Anaconda Cloud or the default conda repository. The Anaconda Repository is used to govern access to data science assets including packages and notebooks.
Channels
  The locations of the repositories where conda looks for packages. Channels may point to an Anaconda Cloud repository or a private location on a remote or local repository that you or your organization created. The conda channel command has a default set of channels to search beginning with https://repo.continuum.io/pkgs/ which users may override, for example, to maintain a private or internal channel. These default channels are referred to in conda commands and in the .condarc file by the channel name ‘defaults’.
Command Line Interface (CLI)
  A program in which commands are entered as text, one line at a time, for a computer to execute. Sometimes referred to as a terminal. Contrast with Graphical User Interface (GUI).
Conda
  A package and environment manager program bundled with Anaconda that installs and updates conda packages and their dependencies. Also lets you easily switch between conda environments on your local computer.
Conda build
  A program that assembles the necessary components to create a conda package using conda commands. Conda build is done locally with your own (optional) clusters, in contrast to Anaconda build which is done on Anaconda Cloud.
Conda environment
  A folder or directory that contains a specific collection of conda packages and their dependencies, so they can be maintained and run separately without interference from each other. For example, you may use one conda environment for only Python 2 and Python 2 packages, and maintain another conda environment with only Python 3 and Python 3 packages.
Conda package
  A compressed file that contains everything that a software program needs in order to be installed and run (system-level libraries, Python modules, executable programs, and/or other components) so you do not have to manually find and install each dependency separately. Managed with conda.
Conda repository
  A cloud-based repository that contains 720+ open source certified packages that are easily installed locally via the “conda install” command. Can be accessed by anyone using conda commands, or viewed directly at https://repo.continuum.io/pkgs/
Graphical User Interface (GUI)
  A program with graphic images, icons and menus in which commands are entered by clicking with a mouse and/or entering text in form boxes. It is a pretty and easy to use overlay to the same program that is run using a command line interface or CLI. Examples are Anaconda Navigator and Anaconda Mosaic.
Miniconda
  A minimal installer for conda. Like Anaconda, Miniconda is a free software package that includes the Anaconda distribution and the conda package and environment manager, but Miniconda does not include any packages other than those dependencies needed to install it. After Miniconda is installed, additional conda packages may be installed directly from the command line with ‘conda install’. See also Anaconda and conda.
Package Manager
  A collection of software tools that automates the process of installing, upgdating, configuring, and removing computer programs for a computer’s operating system. Also known as a package management system. Conda is an example of a package manager.
Packages
  Software files and information about the software, such as its name, the specific version and a description, bundled into a file that can be installed and managed by a package manager.
R Packages
  Conda packages that install and run the R computer language. Examples include R Essentials, a bundle of 80 popular open source software programs written in the R computer language. SEE ALSO http://conda.pydata.org/docs/r-with-conda.html
Repository
  Any storage location from which software or software assets that may be retrieved and installed on a local computer. SEE ALSO Anaconda Repository and conda repository.