build: Add Conda environment setup and dependency installation script

INSTALL.md

@@ -126,6 +126,31 @@ Here are the steps to check out, build, and test the OSL distribution:
 
         make test
 
+Conda Environment
+-----------------
+
+To simplify installation of Python and other dependencies, you can use
+the provided Conda environment setup script located at `src/build-scripts/` 
+by running:
+
+    source src/build-scripts/configure_conda_env.bash
+
+**This script will:**
+  * Check for Miniconda installation.
+  * Create a Conda environment named `osl-env` if it doesn't exist.
+  * Install all required dependencies into the environment.
+  * Activate the environment for the current shell session.
+
+After running this script, the `osl-env` environment will be created, and
+all you need to do when opening a new shell session is simply activate the 
+Conda environment.
+
+**When to use it:**  
+Run this script after cloning the repository and before building OSL. It 
+sets up a consistent development environment without manually installing 
+all dependencies. If you already have all required dependencies installed, 
+running it is optional.
+
 Troubleshooting
 ----------------
 

src/build-scripts/configure_conda_env.bash

@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Copyright Contributors to the Open Shading Language project.
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
+# https://github.com/AcademySoftwareFoundation/OpenShadingLanguage
+
+# --- Colors ---
+RED='\033[0;31m'
+YELLOW='\033[1;33m'
+GREEN='\033[0;32m'
+NC='\033[0m' # No Color
+
+
+# --- Check if the script is sourced ---
+if [[ "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" == "${0}" ]]; then
+    echo -e "${YELLOW}Please run this script as:"
+    echo -e "    ${NC}source $(basename "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")"
+    echo -e "Otherwise, '${YELLOW}conda activate${NC}' won't persist in your current shell."
+    return 0 2>/dev/null || exit 0
+fi
+
+# --- Check if Miniconda exists ---
+if [ ! -f "$HOME/miniconda3/etc/profile.d/conda.sh" ]; then
+    echo -e "${RED}Miniconda not found at ~/miniconda3.${NC}"
+    echo -e "Please install Miniconda before running this script"
+    echo -e "${YELLOW}Important:${NC} During installation, decline any PATH modifications."
+    echo -e "This script activates the environment per session using 'source'."
+    return 0 2>/dev/null || exit 0
+else
+    # Load Conda
+    source ~/miniconda3/etc/profile.d/conda.sh
+
+    # Create OSL environment if it doesn't exist
+    if ! conda info --envs | grep -q "osl-env"; then
+        echo "Creating osl-env Conda environment..."
+        conda create -y -n osl-env
+
+        # Activate the environment
+        conda activate osl-env
+
+        # Install dependencies
+        echo "Installing dependencies in osl-env..."
+        conda install -y -c conda-forge \
+            cmake \
+            llvmdev=20.1.8 clangdev clangxx_linux-64 libcxx \
+            python=3.12 numpy pybind11 \
+            openimageio=2.5 imath flex bison pugixml zlib
+    else
+        echo -e "${GREEN}osl-env environment already exists.${NC}"
+
+        # Activate the environment
+        conda activate osl-env
+    fi
+
+fi