Python Versioning#
While the python -m venv module is quite handy, it has one fatal flaw: it requires python itself to be stable. This can makes upgrading python a hastle as it resets all of your project environment setups forcing you to recreate them with a new python (albeit much easier with a requirements.txt). This is a very common issue when using tools and apps through python or installed via pip.
Fortuntely, a slew of third-party tooling has made this much easier to self-manage
Note
At time of writing, 3.11.3 is the latest Python version.
pyenv#
Pyenv is a tool used to manage different versions of Python on a single operating system (follow this guide for installation instructions). It uses shell shims to reroute python to different versions based on various conditions (local .python_version files, etc). If you are having problems getting Python 3.10+ to work, we recommend you try pyenv to set it up.
Warning
pyenv has limited windows support (only a separately managed windows forks exists)
Once pyenv is installed, navigate to your project's directory and run the following commands:
pyenv install 3.11.3
pyenv local 3.11.3
The first command downloads Python version 3.11.3 on your operating system. The second command create a .python-version file in your current directory which will be used by pyenv so set the active Python version when you are working from that directory.
To test that the correct Python version has been selected, you can run the following command:
pyenv version
Which should output something like:
3.11.3 (set by /my/project/path/.python-version)
pipx#
pipx is a seemless way to install python-like apps (from CLI to full-fledged UIs) with their own managed python environment. This makes them easy to manage (and fix) and works seemlessly with pyenv.
Follow the instructions in the repo to get started.
black as an app#pipx install black
Here, black will be available in your terminal globally. The dependencies of black will stay independent to other projects and your global python due to the environment that pipx manages for it.
Note
We highly recommend using pipx to manage python cli tools as it makes it easier to manage. It can be a better solution than using a native package manager as you can stay more up-to-date to the latest versions of the software.