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Yarn vs pip: What are the differences?

Yarn vs pip

Introduction

Yarn and pip are package managers that are widely used by developers. Both tools provide a convenient way to manage dependencies in a project. However, there are some key differences between Yarn and pip that make them suited for different use cases.

  1. Installation process: Yarn is a JavaScript package manager, while pip is a package installer for Python. The installation process for each tool differs based on the programming language they are associated with. Yarn requires Node.js to be installed, while pip comes bundled with Python.

  2. Package registries: Yarn primarily uses the npm (Node Package Manager) registry to fetch and manage packages. On the other hand, pip uses the Python Package Index (PyPI) as its default package registry. This difference in package registries means that Yarn is more focused on JavaScript packages, while pip is dedicated to Python packages.

  3. Lock files: Yarn generates a "yarn.lock" file that captures the exact version of each package dependency used in a project. This lock file ensures deterministic builds by guaranteeing that all developers who work on the project use the same package versions. Pip, on the other hand, relies on the "requirements.txt" file, which includes the packages needed for a project but does not capture the exact versions.

  4. Virtual environments: Pip makes use of virtual environments, which are isolated Python environments that allow for dependency separation between projects. Virtual environments enable developers to manage project dependencies separately without conflicts. Yarn does not provide built-in support for virtual environments. However, developers can use other tools like "nvm" (Node Version Manager) to achieve a similar level of dependency isolation.

  5. Package managers' commands: The commands used in Yarn and pip to manage packages differ due to the differences in their underlying languages. Yarn's commands, such as "yarn add" and "yarn remove," are used specifically for managing JavaScript packages. Pip, on the other hand, uses commands like "pip install" and "pip uninstall" to manage Python packages.

  6. Community and ecosystem: Yarn and pip have their own dedicated communities and ecosystems. Yarn is primarily used in the JavaScript and Node.js ecosystem, which offers a wide range of packages and tools for web development. Pip, on the other hand, is deeply integrated into the Python ecosystem, offering an extensive collection of packages for various domains, including data science, web development, and machine learning.

In Summary, Yarn and pip differ in their installation process, package registries, handling of lock files, support for virtual environments, commands used for package management, and the ecosystems they are associated with.

Advice on pip and Yarn
Needs advice
on
npmnpm
and
YarnYarn

From a StackShare Community member: “I’m a freelance web developer (I mostly use Node.js) and for future projects I’m debating between npm or Yarn as my default package manager. I’m a minimalist so I hate installing software if I don’t need to- in this case that would be Yarn. For those who made the switch from npm to Yarn, what benefits have you noticed? For those who stuck with npm, are you happy you with it?"

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Replies (14)
Julian Sanchez
Lead Developer at Chore Champion · | 11 upvotes · 239.2K views
Recommends
on
YarnYarn
at

We use Yarn because it allows us to more simply manage our node_modules. It also simplifies commands and increases speed when installing modules. Our teams module download time was cut in half after switching from NPM to Yarn. We now require all employees to use Yarn (to prevent errors with package-lock.json and yarn.lock).

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Recommends
on
npmnpm

I use npm since new version is pretty fast as well (Yarn may be still faster a bit but the difference isn't huge). No need for other dependency and mainly Yarn sometimes do not work. Sometimes when I want to install project dependencies I got error using Yarn but with npm everything is installed correctly.

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Recommends
on
YarnYarn

p.s.

I am not sure about the performance of the latest version of npm, whether it is different from my understanding of it below. Because I use npm very rarely when I had the following knowledge.

------⏬

I use Yarn because, first, yarn is the first tool to lock the version. Second, although npm also supports the lock version, when you use npm to lock the version, and then use package-lock.json on other systems, package-lock.json Will be modified. You understand what I mean, when you deploy projects based on Git...

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Mark Nelissen
Recommends
on
npmnpmnpmnpm

I use npm because I also mainly use React and TypeScript. Since several typings (from DefinitelyTyped) depend on the React typings, Yarn tends to mess up which leads to duplicate libraries present (different versions of the same type definition), which hinders the Typescript compiler. Npm always resolves to a single version per transitive dependency. At least that's my experience with both.

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Recommends
on
YarnYarn

As far as I know Yarn is a super module of NPM. But it still needs npm to run.

Yarn was developed by Facebook's guys to fix some npm issues and performance.

If you use the last version of npm most of this problem does not exist anymore.

You can choose the option which makes you more confortable. I like using yarn because I'm used to it.

In the end the packages will be the same. Just try both and choose the one you feel more confortable. :)

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tataata
Frontend designer and developer · | 3 upvotes · 224.6K views
Recommends
on
YarnYarn

Yarn made it painless for the team to sync on versions of packages that we use on the project <3

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Shuuji TAKAHASHI
Recommends
on
YarnYarn

I use Yarn because it outputs nice progress messages with cute emoji and installs packages quickly if the package is cached. Also, Yarn creates yarn.lock file which makes the developer use the consistent environment.

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Recommends
on
npmnpm

I use npm because its the official package manager for Node. It's reliability, security and speed has increased over time so the battle is over!

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Izzur Zuhri
Recommends
on
npmnpm

I use npm because it has a lot of community support and the performance difference with alternative tool is not so significant for me.

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Tor Hagemann
Principal Software Engineer at Socotra · | 3 upvotes · 124.8K views
Recommends
on
npmnpmYarnYarn

You should use whichever had the best DX (developer experience) for your team. If you are doing a massive front-end project, consider yarn if not only because it makes it a snap to go from zero to ready. What some people say about npm being more stable or easier for smaller projects is highly true as well. (not to mention, you sometimes have to install yarn) But, note that official NodeJS Docker images ship with both npm and yarn. If you want to use yarn, put package-lock=false and optionally save-exact=true in your project's .npmrc file. Compare whether you prefer the ergonomics of yarn global add over npm install -g or see fewer meaningless warnings for the specific set of dependencies you leverage.

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Denys Slipetskyy
Recommends
on
YarnYarn
at

I use Yarn because it process my dependencies way faster, predictable deps resolution order, upgrade-interactive is very handy + some Yarn specific features (workspaces, Plug’n’Play alternative installation strategy) ...

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Francois Leurent
Recommends
on
npmnpm
at

We tend to stick to npm, yarn is only a fancy alternative, not 10x better. Using a self -hosted private repository (via sinopia/npm-mirror) make package locking (mostly) pointless.

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Recommends
on
YarnYarn

I am a minimalist too. I once had issues with installing Nuxt.js using NPM so I had to install Yarn but I also found that the Dev experience was much better

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Digital All
Recommends
on
npmnpm

I use npm because its packaged with node installation and handles npm tokens in CI/CD tools for private packages/libraries.

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Decisions about pip and Yarn
Oleksandr Fedotov
Senior Software Engineer at joyn · | 3 upvotes · 264.8K views

As we have to build the application for many different TV platforms we want to split the application logic from the device/platform specific code. Previously we had different repositories and it was very hard to keep the development process when changes were done in multiple repositories, as we had to synchronize code reviews as well as merging and then updating the dependencies of projects. This issues would be even more critical when building the project from scratch what we did at Joyn. Therefor to keep all code in one place, at the same time keeping in separated in different modules we decided to give a try to monorepo. First we tried out lerna which was fine at the beginning, but later along the way we had issues with adding new dependencies which came out of the blue and were not easy to fix. Next round of evolution was yarn workspaces, we are still using it and are pretty happy with dev experience it provides. And one more advantage we got when switched to yarn workspaces that we also switched from npm to yarn what improved the state of the lock file a lot, because with npm package-lock file was updated every time you run npm install, frequent updates of package-lock file were causing very often merge conflicts. So right now we not just having faster dependencies installation time but also no conflicts coming from lock file.

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Petr Bambušek
Head of Frontend at Mews · | 2 upvotes · 275.5K views
Chose
YarnYarn
over
npmnpm
at
()

This was no real choice - we switched the moment Yarn was available, and never looked back. Yarn is the only reasonable frontend package manager that's actually being developed. They even aim to heal the node_modules madness with v2! Npm is just copying its ideas on top of introducing massive bugs with every change.

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Pros of pip
Pros of Yarn
  • 2
    Best package management system for python
  • 85
    Incredibly fast
  • 22
    Easy to use
  • 13
    Open Source
  • 11
    Can install any npm package
  • 8
    Works where npm fails
  • 7
    Workspaces
  • 3
    Incomplete to run tasks
  • 2
    Fast

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Cons of pip
Cons of Yarn
    Be the first to leave a con
    • 16
      Facebook
    • 7
      Sends data to facebook
    • 4
      Should be installed separately
    • 3
      Cannot publish to registry other than npm

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    - No public GitHub repository available -

    What is pip?

    It is the package installer for Python. You can use pip to install packages from the Python Package Index and other indexes.

    What is Yarn?

    Yarn caches every package it downloads so it never needs to again. It also parallelizes operations to maximize resource utilization so install times are faster than ever.

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    Blog Posts

    What are some alternatives to pip and Yarn?
    npm
    npm is the command-line interface to the npm ecosystem. It is battle-tested, surprisingly flexible, and used by hundreds of thousands of JavaScript developers every day.
    Homebrew
    Homebrew installs the stuff you need that Apple didn’t. Homebrew installs packages to their own directory and then symlinks their files into /usr/local.
    RequireJS
    RequireJS loads plain JavaScript files as well as more defined modules. It is optimized for in-browser use, including in a Web Worker, but it can be used in other JavaScript environments, like Rhino and Node. It implements the Asynchronous Module API. Using a modular script loader like RequireJS will improve the speed and quality of your code.
    Browserify
    Browserify lets you require('modules') in the browser by bundling up all of your dependencies.
    Bundler
    It provides a consistent environment for Ruby projects by tracking and installing the exact gems and versions that are needed. It is an exit from dependency hell, and ensures that the gems you need are present in development, staging, and production.
    See all alternatives