Using trypackage: A Command-Line Tool for Quick Python Package Trials

When trying out new Python libraries, the large number of dependencies can quickly pollute the global environment, so developers often resort to creating a virtual environment for each trial. The author discovered trypackage , a tool designed to streamline this process.

Installation : Install the package with a single command: python3 -m pip install trypackage The tool itself only depends on the click library, making it lightweight. Because trypackage builds on virtualenv , you also need to install virtualenv and virtualenvwrapper : python3 -m pip install virtualenv virtualenvwrapper

Basic usage : Running try requests creates a temporary virtual environment, installs the requests package inside it, automatically starts a Python shell, and imports the package for immediate use. After exiting the shell, the temporary environment is removed.

Advanced options include specifying a Python interpreter with -p (e.g., try requests -p 3.8 or try requests -p /usr/bin/python3.7.1 ), choosing the interactive mode ( --shell python , --ipython , --shell ptpython , --shell bpython ), opening the package in an editor ( try requests --editor ), installing directly from a GitHub repository ( try user/repo ), reusing an existing virtual environment ( try requests --virtualenv ~/.try/sandbox ), persisting the environment with --keep , and setting a custom temporary directory with --tmpdir .

Configuration file : To avoid repeatedly typing options, create a config.ini in the application directory with defaults such as: [env] virtualenv=~/.try/sandbox python=3.8 shell=ipython keep=false always_use_editor=false tmpdir=~/.try The location of the app directory can be obtained via: >> import click >>> click.get_app_dir("try") '/Users/iswbm/Library/Application Support/try' With the configuration file in place, subsequent try commands will respect these settings.

Conclusion : trypackage provides a convenient, all‑in‑one solution for quickly testing Python packages without contaminating the global environment, demonstrating Python’s strength as a language for rapid, lazy‑friendly development.