docs: def start_env(environment, path):
      """ Initialize a new environment in specified directory.
  
          If path does not exist, will try to create the directory structure
          recursively.
  
          If the path is not provided, will use current working directory.
      """
      parser = read_config()
  
      if environment not in parser.sections():
          print("Unknown environment type '%s'" % environment)
          return
  
      if path and not os.path.isdir(path):
          try:
              os.makedirs(path)
          except os.error:
              print("Could not create directory structure")
              return
  
      init_path = path if path else os.getcwd()
  
      commands = parser.get(environment, "cmd").split("\n")
  
      print("Working in directory: " + init_path)
  
      for cmd in commands:
          proc = subprocess.Popen(cmd , cwd=init_path, shell=True)
          proc.wait()
  
      print("Initialized '%s' environment" % environment)