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 Pycharm; every time I want to use matplotlib in my code, I end up going to settings and asking it be installed. Is this a reasonable way to work, or am I creating clutter for myself

You're absolutely right to question that, Louise — reinstalling matplotlib every time you run a script is not ideal and likely signals a configuration issue in your PyCharm project or virtual environment setup. You're not creating clutter per se, but you're definitely adding friction to your workflow.

🧠 What’s Likely Happening

PyCharm uses project-specific virtual environments, and if:

You're creating a new project each time, or

You're not reusing the same virtual environment, then matplotlib isn’t available by default, and PyCharm prompts you to install it again.

✅ Best Practices to Avoid Reinstalling

Here’s how to streamline your setup:

1. Use a consistent virtual environment

When creating a new project, choose “Existing interpreter” and point to the same environment you’ve already configured.

This way, all your packages (like matplotlib, cartopy, etc.) are already available.

2. Install packages via terminal once

Instead of using PyCharm’s GUI every time:

bash

pip install matplotlib cartopy

Then reuse that environment across projects.

3. Check your interpreter settings

Go to:

Code

File → Settings → Project → Python Interpreter

Make sure it’s pointing to the correct environment (e.g., venv, conda, or system Python).

4. Use a requirements file (optional but powerful)

Create a requirements.txt:

Code

matplotlib

cartopy

Then install everything with:

bash

pip install -r requirements.txt

🧹 Are You Creating Clutter?

Not really — but you’re creating redundancy and slowing yourself down. Each reinstall adds files to your environment, and if you’re creating new environments repeatedly, you’re duplicating effort and disk usage.

Would you like me to walk you through setting up a reusable virtual environment in PyCharm, step by step? That way, you’ll only install packages once and never have to click through settings again.