Mamba is a CLI tool to manage conda environments and a drop-in replacement for the conda CLI tool. It is built in C/C++ and hence resolves package dependencies much faster than the Python-coded conda.
It also offers parallel downloads for new or updated packages, so that updating your environment or adding a new package isn’t a chore anymore, it’s blazing fast! :)
You install it (only!) into your conda base environment like so:
conda activate base
conda install -c conda-forge mambaWhen creating a new Python system, I can recommend to go immediately for the new mambaforge installer, that will:
- install mamba into your base so that it is immediately available
- point all your package requests to the awesome
conda-forgechannel where a huge community provides all the scientific Python packages and dependencies (likegdalandOpenCV) in a much faster update cadence then thedefaultschannel of anaconda does.
I am working exclusively with the the conda-forge channel for several years and never, or very rarely, had an issue with that.
Just remember: Don’t mix channels much, the less the better. (It’s okay for a one-time mamba install into your
basethough.)