Running notebooks locally - tests failing due to version diffs

Hi, Matias.

Sorry, I missed this subtlety in your message the first time around. Yes, I’m also running an M1 MacBook Pro and there are certain other compatibility issues that are problematic, e.g. VM software. :scream_cat:

Given your programming experience, I’m sure it’s occurred to you already you have basically two options on this type of problem:

  1. Duplicate the precise environment.
  2. Debug and fix each incompatibility that you encounter.

Of course 2) is more work or at least work that there is no way to “scope” in advance: you just have to plow through it. It might take half an hour or it could take days. But also note that it is in some sense a less durable solution: TF may change again and break your code next week, so you incur (at least in principle) an ongoing cost with option 2) if your operational model is to stay current with TF and other packages.

But if option 1) is not available to you for some reason, as in the M1 Mac case, then you may not have the full suite of choices.

Well, there is a “hybrid” strategy: you could do option 2) just to get up to the point where things work with some version of TF that is available for your platform and then you could implement option 1) to preserve that set of versions. Of course that’s more costly in that you have to do the work to learn how to implement option 1), which is non-trivial. But then you should be trouble free from that point forward.

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