I've seen 'virtualenv' refer to both an environment with isolated packages, and the tool that creates that environment. Can be confusing.
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In the book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, the author talks about the point in history when societies were no longer isolated from each other. E.g. they knew of and traded with others.
Computing is similar. We could think of a single connected computer system now.
Operating systems, smartphone platforms, they're all rather oriented around isolated programs/apps.
Is this Conway's Law in action? Does a more integrated system require a more integrated developer community?
Some test runners, such as MiniTest, randomise the order of tests to ensure tests are isolated. Neat idea, but I worry about repeatability.