homebrew

Homebrew is a package manager for macOS and Linux that makes installing software packages simple. While not Python-specific, it provides an important way to install Python tools and dependencies on macOS systems.

Core Capabilities

• Installs packages (“formulae”) and larger binary packages (“casks”)
• Manages package dependencies
• Updates installed packages
• Easy installation/uninstallation using brew install and brew uninstall
• Installs Python interpreters (brew install python)
• Installs Python tools like uv and pipx
• Provides dependency libraries needed for Python packages (e.g. openssl, sqlite)

Pros

• Simple to use with consistent commands
• Well-maintained and stable
• Large collection of available packages

Cons

• macOS/Linux only (no Windows support)
• Can conflict with system Python on macOS
• Updates may break existing Python setups
• Less granular control compared to Python-specific tools

Learn More

• Homebrew Documentation
• Homebrew and Python
• Formula Repository