(I've just learned about uv, and it looks like I have to pick it up since it performs very well.)
I just use pipx. Install guides suggest it, and it is only one character different from pip.
With Nix, it is very easy to run multiple versions of same software. The path will always be the same, meaning you can depend on versions. This is nice glue for pipx.
My pet peeve with Python and Vim is all these different package managers. Every once in a while a new one is out and I don't know if it will gain momentum. For example, I use Plug now in Vim but notice documentation often refers to different alternatives these days. With Python it is pip, poetry, pip search no longer working, pipx, and now uv (I probably forgot some things).
Pipx is a tool for users to install finished applications. It isn't intended for installing libraries for further development, and you have to hack around it to make that work. (This does gain you a little bit over using Pip directly.)
I just keep separate compiled-from-source versions of Python in a known, logical place; I can trivially create venvs from those directly and have Pip install into them, and pass `--python` to `pipx install`.
>With Python it is pip, poetry, pip search no longer working, pipx, and now uv (I probably forgot some things).
Of this list, only Poetry and Uv are package managers. Pip is by design, only an installer, and Pipx only adds a bit of environment management to that. A proper package manager also helps you keep track of what you've installed, and either produces some sort of external lock file and/or maintains dependency listings in `pyproject.toml`. But both Poetry and Uv go further beyond that as well, aiming to help with the rest of the development workflow (such as building your package for upload to PyPI).
If you like Pipx, you might be interested in some tips in my recent blog post (https://zahlman.github.io/posts/2025/01/07/python-packaging-...). In particular, if you do need to install libraries, you can expose Pipx's internal copy of Pip for arbitrary use instead of just for updating the venvs that Pipx created.
I just use pipx. Install guides suggest it, and it is only one character different from pip.
With Nix, it is very easy to run multiple versions of same software. The path will always be the same, meaning you can depend on versions. This is nice glue for pipx.
My pet peeve with Python and Vim is all these different package managers. Every once in a while a new one is out and I don't know if it will gain momentum. For example, I use Plug now in Vim but notice documentation often refers to different alternatives these days. With Python it is pip, poetry, pip search no longer working, pipx, and now uv (I probably forgot some things).