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I like PDM

I like PDM, the “modern Python package and dependency manager.” It can do a whole bunch of things related to managing Python projects. In particular, there are two features I rely upon often and really appreciate.

Standalone Python scripts with dependencies

PDM allows you to write, more or less, Python scripts with dependencies that do not require any setup steps beforehand. This is accomplished by including a description of the requirements (Python version, dependencies, and more), in a top-level comment, and then running the script with pdm run $SCRIPTPATH. PDM will then create a Python environment for you on the fly, set it up according to what you specified in the comment, and run your script within it.

Of course, to run such a script, you still need PDM, which itself is a reasonably heavyweight setup step. Since the interface is minimal (just one PDM command), stable (written in stone PEP 723), and interoperable (based on a PEP), I tolerate it.

The top-level comment and basic script machinery looks like this:

# /// script
# requires-python = ">=3.14"
# dependencies = [
#   "tqdm==4.70.1"
# ]
# ///

# Run with `pdm run $SCRIPT`

from pathlib import Path
import json


def main():
    pass


if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

I have the above script saved in ~/Templates/script.py such that my file manager allows me to create a new one from the right-click context menu. Any file manager worth it’s salt will likely support this, as it’s part of the XDG user directory guidelines. Pretty nice if you ask me!

If you’re curious to read more, have a look at the documentation. PEP 723 specifies the metadata format used in the comments.

Not owned by Big AI

Before, I used a different Python project manager. Sadly, it got acquired by OpenAI.

That’s it

I have yet to find a use case that’s not covered by PDM, though I’m sure there are differences. If you like no-hassle Python tooling, give PDM a try!

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