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Python: Poetry vs UV

Onur Baskin
Python in Plain English
10 min readOct 10, 2024

If you’re interested in a foundational comparison, check out my earlier post, Python’s Poetry vs Requirements.txt, before diving into how Poetry stacks up against UV.

In the ever-evolving world of Python development, managing dependencies and packages efficiently is crucial. Whether you’re a seasoned developer or just starting out, a reliable package manager can streamline your workflow, ensure consistency across environments, and simplify the deployment process. Two popular contenders in this space are Poetry and UV. This article explores what they are, their shared features, key differences, and which one might be the best fit for your projects.

1. Understanding Python Package Managers

1.1 What is Poetry?

Poetry is a modern Python dependency management and packaging tool that aims to bring a more intuitive and streamlined approach to handling Python projects. Introduced as an alternative to traditional tools like pip and virtualenv, Poetry combines dependency management, virtual environment handling, and packaging into a single cohesive tool.

Philosophy and Goals

Poetry was created with the goal of simplifying the Python development workflow. It emphasizes:

  • Simplicity: By reducing the number of configuration files…

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Responses (3)

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I believe that poetry can't install python unlike uv or conda

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Final Thoughts: Both Poetry and UV are powerful Python package managers, each excelling in different areas. By understanding their unique strengths and aligning them with your project’s...

The two are related to each other. Select the one that aligns with your development and project goals.

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Interesting article.

I'm used for years to the classic combo pip, virtualenv and pyenv and it never deceived me. I've tried Poetry several times ago and discarded after each experiment: slow, sometimes unstable even for a basic configuration…

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