Intel python and intel environment in anaconda difference?

Question

I am using Windows and I followed these steps to get the intel environment for my anaconda 3.

I realized that Intel Python can be obtained without anaconda by directly downloading it from the Intel website. (Intel python Download option screenshot)

So What is the difference in Intel python in both the cases?

Answer 1

There is no difference. You have the option of choosing a full installer to get the entire Intel python installation, or creating a conda environment to install just the packages you want. The article says to install intelpython<2|3>_core or intelpython<2|3_full. These are collections of packages, but you can also create an environment with just Intel's optimized numpy, for instance, like this:

conda create -n intel_np -c intel numpy