How to install `tqec`

Requirements before installing

Python version

The tqec package only supports Python 3.10 and onward. If you have Python 3.9 or below, please update your Python installation.

Additional toolchains

Some of the dependencies of tqec are implemented using compiled languages. This is for example the case of the pycryptosat dependency. Pre-compiled Python packages that should be compatible with any GNU/Linux are provided by the author, but no pre-compiled package exist for Windows or MacOS.

This means that, if you try to install the tqec package on Windows or MacOS, a working C++ toolchain should also be installed on your system.

Here is a list of potential issues you might encounter and how to solve them:

Failed building wheel for pycryptosat

Installation procedure

(optional) Create a new environment

It is a good practice to create a specific virtual environment for the tqec package.

One way of doing that is using the native venv package of your python installation:

python -m venv [path to where you want your virtual environment]/tqec
# On GNU/Linux and MacOS
source [path to where you want your virtual environment]/tqec/bin/activate
# On Windows
## In cmd.exe
[path to where you want your virtual environment]\tqec\Scripts\activate.bat
## In PowerShell
[path to where you want your virtual environment]\tqec\Scripts\Activate.ps1

Install the `tqec` package

The tqec package is a regular Python package that can be installed using pip.

It is not (yet) available on the official Python Package Index PyPI, so you will have to manually provide the URL to install the package:

python -m pip install git+https://github.com/QCHackers/tqec.git

And that’s it! You can test the installation by running

python -c "import tqec"

If the installation succeeded, the command should return without any message displayed. Else, a message like

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<string>", line 1, in <module>
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'tqec'

should appear.

How to install tqec