# Package or environment: What to recommend to new users?

**URL:** https://discourse.julialang.org/t/package-or-environment-what-to-recommend-to-new-users/125017
**Category:** General Usage
**Tags:** package, environment
**Created:** [January 21, 2025, 1:14pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/package-or-environment-what-to-recommend-to-new-users/125017 "2025-01-21T13:14:06Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![Eben60](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/eben60/32/13475_2.png) [@Eben60](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Eben60)
#### Post date: [January 21, 2025, 1:14pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/package-or-environment-what-to-recommend-to-new-users/125017/1 "2025-01-21T13:14:06Z")

</div>

I once put this question in the [announcement post](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/ann-packagemaker-gui-for-pkgtemplates/124197) of PackageMaker.jl, but didn’t get much [feedback](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/ann-packagemaker-gui-for-pkgtemplates/124197/18) on this point. May I try another attempt, now in a separate topic?

> [@\[ANN\] PackageMaker - GUI for PkgTemplates](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/ann-packagemaker-gui-for-pkgtemplates/124197/1):
>
> … I prefer to start a (possibly throwaway) package right from the beginning instead of a project. This gives me the important advantage of having all functions, which I place into the project’s module, `Revise`-ed. I do not see any disadvantages of such a procedure as compared to a bare project. Are there any?

The reason: In the (coming) documentation for the PackageMaker.jl, I’d recommend DO NOT normally creating environments, even though it has checkbox for that, - but instead always start with local packages: Making a package right from the beginning (with PackageMaker.jl) has zero additional cost.

On the other side, all manuals I’ve seen (e.g. [JuliaNotes](https://github.com/m3g/JuliaNotes.jl), [Modern Julia Workflows](https://modernjuliaworkflows.org/#modern_julia_workflows)) first teach how to create environments (which is of course logical from didactic point of view if a package is considered as an extension of a project).

Thus, before I put a general recommendation, may I ask the same question again:

Are there any _practical disadvantages_ of skipping the step of creating “package-less” environments?