[conda-forge](https://conda-forge.org/docs/) is a community-driven channel for installing packages through [[conda]]. The benefit of `conda-forge` is that it provides "recipes" to build packages in an environment.
> [!Tip]
> The `conda-forge` community prefers the [[miniforge3]] distribution over [[miniconda3]]. `miniforge3` comes with [[mamba]], a faster method for installing Python packages.
`conda-forge` is the preferred channel for installing new libraries. One way to specify the channel `conda-forge` when installing a package is to use the `-c` flag:
```bash
conda install -c conda-forge pandas
```
To make life easier, add `conda-forge` as the preferred channel with:
```bash
conda config --add channels conda-forge
conda config --set channel_priority strict
```
Now you can omit the `-c` flag when installing new libraries.
> [!NOTE]
> The command `conda config` updates the `.condarc` file.
## Citation
To credit `conda-forge` in your work, cite the [Zenodo entry](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4774216). The citation is
```
conda-forge community. (2015). The conda-forge Project: Community-based
Software Distribution Built on the conda Package Format and Ecosystem.
Zenodo. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4774216
```