Apologies if I'm missing something obvious (relatively new to Python), but what's the advantage of loading it the 1st way? I'm currently using conda and do something similar to you're 2nd example `source activate conda-env && python myapp.py`
Using the 1st method, I am certain the shell isn't being modified and loaded with stuff I don't need, and the command and arguments are explicit (when I look at top, or when I do strace).
Generally, you can continue to do #2; I use it when I am doing development, like having multiple terminals up and just source into the environment, then run pytest instead of the full path to pytest. But I highly recommend #1 when you are running your code in production (webapp or not). I am not too familiar with conda so I will defer that to the experts).