Managing Python tools with uv

I’ve been hearing a lot about uv over the past few weeks, but I hadn’t actually tried it yet. It seems to perform the same tasks that I’m already familiar with when using asdf and pip. When I need to run a Python-based tool, like ipython or s3cmd, I have to:

• Install asdf to manage everything in my home folder (no sudo required).
• Install asdf-python along with its OS-level libraries to build Python interpreters.
• Install a reasonably up-to-date Python version, such as 3.12.
• Use pip to install the desired tool.
• Run the actual command, like ipython.

With uv, I would:

• Place the uv/uvx binaries into ~/.local/bin/ (which is already part of my $PATH).
• Run the command using the uvx helper, like uvx ipython.

That’s all there is to it. There’s no need to manage Python interpreter versions, as uv uses whatever is available in the system. I also don’t need to use asdf and a user-installed pip to install packages without sudo, as uv handles this process by default. It’s not even required to install the package before starting it, as uv does that in a lightning-fast step.