Qiskit is a software development kit for writing quantum computing experiments, programs, and applications.
This is a simple meta-package to install the elements of Qiskit altogether.
The best way of installing qiskit
is using pip
:
$ pip install qiskit
Prior to version 0.7
, both Terra and Aer elements lived together under the qiskit
package. In
0.7
we split qiskit
into qiskit-terra
and qiskit-aer
.
The Terra element is the foundation of Qiskit and allows you to write quantum circuits with our Python API and run them using the built-in simulators provided with the package. Aer element is a collection of native simulators designed to be fast and full-featured.
If you don't need/want these simulators, you can always install qiskit-terra
in isolation by
doing:
$ pip install qiskit-terra
The meta-package started with version 0.7
to respect the continuity of qiskit
versions. The
Terra element did the same to provide continuity with its own history.
Considering semver
, the Qiskit meta-package pins the minor version
number of each Qiskit element to get new patches automatically.
Nevertheless, upon changes minor or major version numbers of the elements, the meta-package version must be updated according to the following rules:
- If a dependency increased the major number, increase the major number of the meta-package.
- Else:
- If a dependency increased the minor number, increase the minor number of the meta-package.
If you want to contribute with one of the Qiskit elements, refer to their individual sites: