Installing Python (MacOS)

There are several ways of installing Python. You could use Homebrew, or the download it directly from the Python website. I decided to use UV.

What is UV

UV is a Python package and project manager. Which means many things, but this includes being a version management tool, so think of it as Python’s version of rbenv for Ruby. It does additional things as well, but for now simplified version management is our reason for using it.

How to install UV

1. Install UV by running the command below:

    $ curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
   

2. After running this command you will be asked to restart the terminal, do so now.

3. After installation you can run the uv command in the terminal to check if it is working. This will look like this:

    $ uv
    An extremely fast Python package manager.
   
    Usage: uv [OPTIONS] <COMMAND>
     
    ...
   

4. Enable shell autocompletion by running the following command (this example assumes you’re using zsh):

   $ echo 'eval "$(uv generate-shell-completion zsh)"' >> ~/.zshrc
   

   Autocompletion will now work, after a terminal restart.

5. Done, now you can install Python through UV.

Installing the latest Python version via UV

This will install the latest Python distribution from the Astral python-build-standalone project.

1. Run the following command:

   $ uv python install
   

2. Once installed, it will be used by UV commands automatically. UV also adds installed Python versions to your PATH, so you may call it like so:

   $ python3.14
   

3. Done.

Installing a specific Python version

You can install a specific version like so:

$ uv python install 3.12

You can also install multiple specific versions at the same time like so:

$ uv python install 3.11 3.12

View Python installations

To view available and installed Python versions:

$ uv python list

Updating Python versions

The update behavior in UV is in experimental as I write this, so instead of using an experimental feature I would lean towards using the reinstallation feature for updating Python. It will reinstall all previously installed Python versions. You can use this feature like so:

$ uv python install --reinstall

Upgrading UV

Updating UV will re-run the installer and can modify your shell profiles.

To update UV if needed, run $ uv self update.

UV docs

View the UV docs here