Python⇒Speed: Faster pip installs: caching, bytecode compilation, and uv

Installing your Python application’s dependencies can be surprisingly slow. Whether you’re running tests in CI, building a Docker image, or installing an application, downloading and installing dependencies can take a while. So how do you speed up installation with pip? In this article I’ll cover: Avoiding the slow path of installing from source. The package cache. Bytecode compilation and how it interacts with installation and startup speed. Using uv, a faster replacement for pip, and why it’s not always as fast as it might initially seem.