Clarify Kedro installation methods (uvx vs virtual environment) for beginners

[iamelijahko]

Description

As a beginner learning Kedro (e.g. through the Spaceflights tutorial), I found the installation instructions can be clearer, especially around the difference between using uvx kedro new and setting up Kedro inside a virtual environment.

Currently, the documentation shows:
uvx kedro new --starter spaceflights-pandas --name spaceflights

but doesn’t clearly explain:

• What uvx is.
• Why you can run kedro new without installing Kedro.
• When to use uvx vs installing Kedro in a virtual environment.
• Best practice for long-term projects vs tutorials.

Why this matters:

• Beginners may assume Kedro needs to be installed globally.
• Others may be unsure if they should always use uvx or switch to a virtual environment.
• This leads to uncertainty and setup mistakes when starting new projects.

Suggested improvements:

[rashidakanchwala]

Based on the discussion in backlog grooming, we agreed that while uv is a good way to get started, it’s not the easiest option—especially for new Kedro users. We’ll revise the documentation so that uv is listed as one of the suggested ways to set up a Kedro project, but the default approach will highlight using conda or venv.

[datajoely]

No this is a terrible idea, uv is clearly the modern way to learn python. You are doing a disservice to our users if you complicate things with the old way.

[merelcht]

@datajoely I get what you're saying, but we do need to balance content for people who aren't familiar with all the best practices yet. We're not saying to remove uv and we could still keep it as the default, but @iamelijahko raised a really good point that the getting started section glosses over details and someone who's unfamiliar with uv might not understand how Kedro is installed. We all know Kedro has a learning curve, but we should make sure it's not other tools we recommend adding to the perceived complexity of using Kedro.

[datajoely]

I was probably a bit dramatic with my language, but I still think uv is much quicker for newbies. They shouldn't touch conda or download Python directly.

Kedro's docs have always taken newbies through a venv tutorial, with uv we now have an industry standard that makes it a snip. If we're adopting the Kedro principle of growing beginners into experts we're doing a disservice teaching them the old, complicated and redundant patterns.

Additionally, the initial kedro new command should be done with an ephemeral uvx because it's not part of your project