# Scratch environment

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/scratch-environment/14947>\
**Category:** General Usage\
**Tags:** question\
**Created:** [September 14, 2018, 11:16am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/scratch-environment/14947 "2018-09-14T11:16:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![yakir12](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/yakir12/32/297_2.png) [@yakir12](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/yakir12)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 11:16am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/scratch-environment/14947/1 "2018-09-14T11:16:16Z")

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When copy-pasting some code from discourse, I want to be able to `using any-package-from-the-universe`. One way I imagine might work is to create a scratch-pad environment where I `]add *` all the packages I can. This way, I can start julia on that environment and be sure I can test whatever.

Is that a bad idea? How can I get it to actually add “all the packages”?

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**Author:** ![fredrikekre](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/fredrikekre/32/1688_2.png) [@fredrikekre](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/fredrikekre)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 12:34pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/scratch-environment/14947/2 "2018-09-14T12:34:48Z")

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Personally I use the default `(v1.0)` environment for things like this. I have not felt a need to `]add *` though, you build up the useful packages pretty quickly.

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**Author:** ![yakir12](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/yakir12/32/297_2.png) [@yakir12](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/yakir12)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 12:40pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/scratch-environment/14947/3 "2018-09-14T12:40:50Z")

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I’m slowly realizing that for testing things, adding everything is pretty useful. And since it’s not that memory intensive as the old Pkg.add() then why not do it? What is the disadvantage for having an environment like that?

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**Author:** ![fredrikekre](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/fredrikekre/32/1688_2.png) [@fredrikekre](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/fredrikekre)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 12:43pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/scratch-environment/14947/4 "2018-09-14T12:43:19Z")

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> [@yakir12](#):
>
> I’m slowly realizing that for testing things, adding everything is pretty useful. And since it’s not that memory intensive as the old Pkg.add() then why not do it? What is the disadvantage for having an environment like that?

You are assuming that all packages work perfectly fine together here, which they probably don’t. It does not take many days until you have installed the packages that you actually use, which seems better, than installing everything.