Our Python API includes higher-level modeling constructs that make it easier to build optimization models. Choose from Anaconda Python distributions with pre-built libraries to support application development, Spyder for graphical development, and Jupyter for notebook-style development.
Together, Gurobi’s Python API and distributions, like Anaconda, give you the ease of a modeling language with the power of a programming language. Additionally, we provide an interactive interface that uses Python for quick testing.
To use Gurobi and Anaconda:
When building an optimization model, you must choose from among two alternatives: Using Gurobi with a proprietary modeling language such as AMPL or GAMS, or using Gurobi with a full programming language such as C, C++, C#, Java, Python, VB, MATLAB or R.
Using a modeling language can be an attractive choice, especially for non-programmers, given the perceived ease with which a model can be formulated. Using a programming language can be a much more powerful and flexible choice if you are interested in formulating a model and then deploying that model and/or integrating it into an application for others to use.
This perceived trade-off led us to wonder, why should someone have to choose between easy or powerful? Is there a way to combine the ease of the modeling language with the power and flexibility of a programming language, without requiring significant programming skills on the part of the modeler?
The Gurobi Python Environment combines the benefits of a modeling language with the strengths of a programming language. By embedding our set of high-level optimization modeling constructs in the very popular Python programming language, we’ve eliminated the need to choose between working in just a modeling language or just a programming language.
The Gurobi Python environment allows you to tap into the vast ecosystem of Python, a mature, full-featured, and easy-to-use language. With Python, you can take advantage of numerous available pre-written and tested packages (over 200,000 at last count) that can save you significant development time when creating new capabilities for your program.
And based on our experience, since Python is a very readable and easy programming language to get started with, we think you’ll be most productive in the Gurobi Python environment—even if you are already familiar with another programming language. By using Python, we’ve created an environment that is:
To help you get started quickly, the Gurobi distribution includes a Python interpreter and a basic set of Python packages. While these are sufficient for building and running simple optimization models, they provide just a glimpse of the wealth of tools and packages that are available for Python.
You can further enhance your development experience by downloading a full Python environment and installing our gurobipy interface.
We recommend Anaconda, a free and widely used Python distribution that includes an Integrated Development Environment (Spyder), a notebook-style interface (Jupyter), and a broad set of 270 of the most useful Python packages. These tools can significantly increase the interactivity and productivity of your Python model and application-building experience.
We provide tools to make it easy to use Gurobi from within your Python environment:
gurobipy interface.pip tool.
Here are just a few examples of the types of things you can do from within a Python environment:
There are over 200,000 Python packages available, which makes Python a lot more than just a programming language.
To get started using the Gurobi Python Environment:
Consult the Python section of our Knowledge Base to learn more.
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