How uv Changed Python Coding for Me

Feb 14, 2026

Python used to come with this annoying warm-up ritual: make a venv, install stuff, discover something conflicts, and then somehow it works on this machine but not the next one. uv basically removed that entire category of pain. It makes Python feel fast, predictable, and honestly more serious as a day-to-day dev tool.

1) I start projects correctly by default

Before uv, spinning up a python script was directly proportional to how many packages it uses. Now I can spin up a clean project in seconds, so I actually keep things organized.

Something like this, for example, feel way clear than using plain Python workflow.

uv init
uv add requests rich # Adds new deps
uv sync # Installs previously defined deps
uv run python -c "import requests, rich; print('ready')"

2) Pyproject for Deps >>>>> requirements.txt

If you have ever used a requirements.txt, you know it kinda sucks. Mostly because people (me included) do pip freeze and dump everything in there, and now you have zero clue what you actually chose vs what got pulled in indirectly.

uv is not the only tool that fixes this, but I genuinely love how it keeps pyproject.toml clean and intentional. Every time I add a dependency or tweak config, it updates the file for me. So when I come back to a project months later (or I am reviewing someone else’s), I can instantly tell what I meant to install and what version range I wanted: no archaeology, no guessing, no “why is this even here?”

3) I do not “activate venvs” anymore

I used to keep multiple terminals open just to avoid activating the wrong environment. Now I just run commands through uv and it always uses the right project context.

uv run python app.py
uv run pytest -q
uv run ruff check .

4) Way faster than similar tool

It is way faster than pip, but, even better, it is way faster than other tools that promise the same functionality. I have used

poetry
pipenv
pixi
pipx

Nothing actually compares to uv in terms of speed.

Final Thoughts

I can’t imagine python development with out a tool like uv to be completely honest. It has everything that I needed, and I don’t forsee leaving it anytime soon.