Python faces new challenges from old rivals, but is it a blip or something more? In other news, we have goodies like easy-install instances of PostgreSQL, a peek at the state of the art in visual development for generative AI projects in Python, and sneaky tricks to share Python tooling across local projects.

Top picks for Python readers on InfoWorld

Python is slipping in popularity—Tiobe
Python’s popularity took a hit in recent months, apparently due to new competition from two languages Python once eclipsed.

How to make local packages universal across Python venvs
Have you written a package you want to share throughout all the other Python projects in your local work environment? This powerful technique lets you do it with minimal fuss.

Run PostgreSQL in Python with no setup needed
Standing up a full, no-dependency installation of PostgreSQL for your Python projects can be as easy as a pip install with pgserver.

Visual generative AI development with ComfyUI
ComfyUI gives you interactive, node-based tools for generative AI workloads, and even lets you export the results to Python scripts.

More good reads and Python updates elsewhere

How the GIL affects PyTorch training performance
As if we didn’t need more reasons to get rid of the GIL, this deep-dive analysis demonstrates how to use process-based async to work around the GIL when training models with PyTorch. No word about use of the free-threaded builds, but maybe that’s for a future installment.

Finding secrets by decompiling Python bytecode in public repositories
According to this researcher, thousands of GitHub repos have Python byte code files that contain embedded secrets. You might want to make sure your .gitignore includes **/*.pyc from now on! (And retroactively scrub existing repos with git-filter-repo.)

Text classification with Python 3.14’s zstd module
Off-Label Usage Dept.: Looks like a compression algorithm added to Python 3.14 can be used for text classification. Yes, as in a language model, and with far less overhead than your average LLM.

Slightly off topic: Vibe Coding Simulator
Here’s the most emotionally accurate simulation we’ve seen so far of the drudge-laden vibe-coding experience. Fans of Universal Paperclips and other idle-clicker games will enjoy this; the rest of us will just feel seen.