Re:Python's New Package Landscape
by guitarbill on Thursday October 18, 2018 @12:30PM
(#18249721)
because if you pin stuff in requirements.txt, they either never get updated, or you have to go through, check which ones have updated, and manually edit the requirements.txt. the combination of Pipfile and Pipfile.lock were designed to solve this in a much better way (briefly: understanding standard deps vs development deps, and using the Pipfile.lock file for exact pinning/deployment pinning, vs general compatibility pinning in the Pipfile).
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That is not my experience. Until recently, I used to pin versions in requirements.txt, then from time to time I removed the pinned versions, reinstalled everything, tested and added new versions to requirements.txt. Most of the work was testing for incompatibilities, but no package manager will help you there.
Recently I switched to pipenv because zappa insists on having virtualenv (as app dev I never had any need for it - but it seems my case is an exception, as I almost never work on multiple apps in parallel). Pipenv does make version management a bit easier, but it wasn't difficult (for me) to begin with.
From talking with other developers I know my view is somewhat unorthodox, but I haven't encountered the problems they describe, or the pain hasn't been that big for me to embrace all the issues that come with virtualenvs.
Btw, it is possible to use the compatible ~= operator (PEP 440) within requirements.txt.