Effortless Python Development with Nix

Episode #18: After struggling with various tools and suggestions for years, I finally streamlined setting up a new Python project by using Nix.

Python development environment

If you ask 100 developers how they set up their Python development environment, getting many different answers is not uncommon.

Why hasn't the problem been solved yet?

In the last decade, many tools have promised to simplify your life. At best, they solve one issue and introduce many more.

I have tried and abandoned many tools like:

• pyenv

• Pipenv

• virtualenv

• pyenv-virtualenv

This article will show you how I finally found what I consider the most efficient and automated way to set up a development environment for my Python projects.

We will cover:

• Developing inside a container.

• What are ephemeral environments?

• What is Nix, and why do you need it?

• What can go wrong when setting up a Python environment?

• A "simple" setup for Python.

• An optimized setup with Nix.

• Dev environments for other programming languages.

The lessons learned here are not limited to programming in Python.

We will demonstrate how to set up a development environment that can be used for installing command-line tools or programming in other languages, such as Golang.

Python has been chosen because of the extra complexity of working with multiple versions of the interpreter, using virtual environments for isolation, and pinning down dependencies.

You don't have to be a Python developer to read this article, but being one helps you appreciate how Nix makes things much more manageable.

If you are not a Python developer, feel free only to read the sections that are relevant to you.

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Giuseppe Santoro

If you need 1-1 mentoring sessions, please check my Mentorcruise profile.