Install instructions are a little confusing

[travishathaway]

I am new to this project and was reading through the install instructions. I found them a little confusing because they mention install methods via pip but then go on to mention the mamba and conda CLI tools.

I have a couple questions for the maintainers:

• Are the install instructions trying to say, "if you are unable to install the dependencies via pip, you can attempt via mamba/conda?"

• Is there a need to create a set of install instructions specifically for mamba/conda?

I would be happy to help with the latter if that is the case. Otherwise, it would be nice to clarify why exactly you are recommending users install mamba/conda.

[mattip]

Could you point to where you are looking in the documentation?

When running benchmarks, ASV creates a virtual environment and installs packages, then runs the benchmarks inside that virtual environment. This allows reproducibility, and comparison of various versions of the package under test: each virtual environment can install a different version of the package, with perhaps different package dependencies.

ASV can use either virtualenv/pip, or conda/mamba to build the virtualenv. Sometimes one is easier to use than the other.

[HaoZeke]

Closing for now, please feel free to reopen if something else comes up.