Modern version of setting up dependencies instead of requirements.txt (dependency manager)
Primary Purpose: Poetry is a dependency manager and packaging tool for Python projects.
Main Features:
- Dependency management: Allows you to declare, install, and lock dependencies in the pyproject.toml file.
- Package management: Can help package your Python project for distribution (e.g., publishing to PyPI).
- Virtual environment management: Poetry automatically creates and manages a virtual environment for your project.
- Version management: Ensures that all your project dependencies use compatible versions through its poetry.lock file, similar to npm or yarn in the JavaScript ecosystem.
- Built-in publishing: Simplifies the process of publishing your Python package to PyPI.
Ideal Use Case:
- If you need to manage dependencies for a Python project, create virtual environments, and ensure reproducibility (using poetry.lock).
- If you’re developing a Python package that you want to distribute or manage versions for, Poetry is a great choice.