ASDF Everything: Python and Golang Setup

Managing multiple versions of your tooling can get quite difficult and tedious. There are solutions for specific languages such as Pipenv and Conda for Python. The downside is that you have 2 different package management systems associated with each and you’ll have to reach for a different tool to manage versions of a different programming language.

Enter ASDF, the Multiple Runtime Manager. ASDF allows you to configure your tooling in a single config file per project. This allows you to have entirely different setups between projects and have consistency between your machine, your co-worker’s machine, and in CI/CD pipelines.

Setup

Install ASDF

For Mac:

brew install coreutils curl git # dependencies
brew install asdf

Be sure to follow the instructions printed by Homebrew on the completions on installation. It will require you to add a few lines of bash to your bash or zsh config.

Linux:

apt install curl git
git clone https://github.com/asdf-vm/asdf.git ~/.asdf --branch v0.13.1

For additional and more up-to-date installation instructions, see their wiki.

Install Python

asdf plugin add python
asdf install python latest # latest sets the version you want to install
asdf global python latest # sets the global Python version to latest, which we just installed.

After those commands finish, you now have the newest version of Python for your global Python version. If you’d like to use an earlier version, just replace latest with a version number such as 3.8.0.

Install Golang

asdf plugin add golang
asdf install golang latest
asdf global golang latest

See the pattern? Simple, huh?

ASDFRC

The .asdfrc file defines machine-specific configuration. Sample:

legacy_version_file = no
use_release_candidates = no
always_keep_download = no
plugin_repository_last_check_duration = 60
disable_plugin_short_name_repository = no
concurrency = auto

See the wiki for more details.

Setup a Project

Whenever a .tool-versions file is present in a directory, ASDF will use the tool versions declared in the file. Example .tool-versions file contents:

golang 1.19
python 3.11.4

When you first try to run the go command, you’ll get an error that looks like this:

No preset version installed for command go
Please install a version by running one of the following:

asdf install golang 1.19

or add one of the following versions in your config file at /Users/alex/temp/.tool-versions
golang 1.21.5

This means that you’ll need to install the Go version before you can use it in your project. Run:

asdf install golang 1.19.0

Or

asdf install

to install all of your dependencies. Now you can use the normal commands for your tool. Here’s an example with Go:

~/temp> ls -a
.              ..             .tool-versions
~/temp> go version
go version go1.19 darwin/arm64
~/temp> cd ..
~/>go version
go version go1.21.5 darwin/arm64

Now stop wasting time and try it out for yourself!