Soothe your Python frustrations the smart way

Install Python package dependencies without the packages, learn the ins and outs of making standalone Python apps, and install Python on Windows the easy way. For a programming language that is prized for being convenient and easy, Python has some surprising barbs and sharp edges. Find out how a new pip flag can make it easier to work with project dependencies apart from the project itself. Get the skinny on why standalone Python programs are hard to assemble, and what you can do about it. See how Python’s new Installation Manager for Microsoft Windows lets multiple versions coexist on the same system. And find out what will be shipped when Python 3.15 debuts later this year. Top picks for Python readers on InfoWorld New pip flag fixes longstanding Python frustrationA longstanding gripe with Python’s pip package manager has a happy ending. The next version of pip will let you install a package’s requirements without installing the package itself. Why it’s so hard to create stand-alone Python appsPython’s best features, its dynamism and flexibility, have a downside: They make it tough to package Python apps as standalone programs. Not impossible, though; just … complicated. The best new features in Python 3.15If you haven’t grabbed the beta release of Python 3.15 yet, it’s ready when you are. Here’s a rundown of all the best bits you can start using right away. Get started with the new Python Installation ManagerThis all-in-one Python version management tool is now the recommended, default way to set up and manage Python versions on Microsoft Windows — including betas, release versions, and the special JIT and free-threaded builds, too. More good reads and Python updates elsewhere Ruff linter gets a massive upgrade in version 0.16The speedy, Rust-powered linter and formatter for Python now supports over 400 rules by default, making for a more useful, zero-configuration, out-of-the-box linting experience. What every Python developer should know about the CPython ABIA massive, multilayered unpacking of that most intimidating of Python internals, the CPython application binary interface. Even if you never plan to write a CPython extension or contribute to the CPython project, the details laid out here are eye-opening. Free-threaded Python: past, present, and futureAt PyCon 2026, CPython core developer Thomas Wouters gave a talk about how Python came to support threads via the GIL, and how its developers went about removing the GIL over many years and multiple attempts. Excellent recap available at LWN.net. PEP 837: Extensible JSON serializationA newly introduced Python Enhancement Proposal (intended for Python 3.16) to make Python’s native JSON serialization more extensible, for instance to allow new types to automatically support serialization via a __json__ method.