Today, let’s chat about something that has both delighted and frustrated me in equal measure: managing Python environments. You know how it is—sometimes you feel on top of the world, and other times, you want to launch your computer out the window.
The PIP_REQUIRE_VIRTUALENV Trick!
So, here’s the deal: setting PIP_REQUIRE_VIRTUALENV prevents you from
accidently polluting your global Python environment when installing packages.
It’s like having an overprotective parent guard your environment from bad
influences. Nice, right?
Read this nice SO question.
But, here’s the hiccup: It’s not compatible with conda. And guess what I was
using? Yep, conda. Ugh! So I jumped on the venv bandwagon, setting up
Python 3.10, 3.11, 3.12 environments. And It works like a charm.
Check out more about it here: PIP Issue 7902.
Hello, Rye!
Then, I stumbled upon rye. It sounded perfect, a shiny new toy to replace
conda as my virtualenv and Python version manager. I was like, “where have
you been all my life?”
However… and there’s always a “however”… 😅 I hit a few bumps, like frustrating
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'setuptools'. I mean, come on!
I’m still giving it a shot and testing it out. It’s got potential, but you know, new tools always come with a learning curve and their own set of quirks.
For those curious, here’s the rye bug tracker keeping my sanity in check: Rye Issues.
Wrapping Up!
Here’s my experience with Python environments. Do you have similar stories? Any tools you love or hate? Share your thoughts below. Let’s share our tech adventures and have a laugh or two.
Happy coding!