Python’s builders have accepted a proposal to create a common lock file format for Python tasks that may specify dependencies, enabling set up reproducibility in a Python surroundings.
Python Enhancement Proposal (PEP) 751, accepted March 31, goals to create a brand new file format for specifying dependencies that’s machine-generated and human-readable. Installers consuming the file ought to be capable to calculate what to put in with no need dependency decision at install-time, based on the proposal.
At present no customary exists to create an immutable file, akin to a lock file, that specifies what direct and oblique dependencies ought to be put in right into a Python digital surroundings, the proposal states. There have been at the least 5 well-known options to the issue in the neighborhood, together with PDM, pip freeze, pip-tools, Poetry, and uv, however these instruments fluctuate in what locking eventualities are supported. ”By not having compatibility and interoperability it fractures tooling round lock recordsdata the place each customers and instruments have to decide on what lock file format to make use of upfront, making it expensive to make use of/swap to different codecs,” the proposal says.
