Is it that surprising? Wouldn't you consider node_modules/ basically a virtual environment as well? Python didn't go the node route from the beginning so virtual environments make a lot of sense to fix the issues. Node presumably drew lessons from python and other sources and went with the full recursive design from the beginning.

But venvs are even more powerful than npm node_modules, it gives you complete control of the path. No need for “npm run” stuff.

Take a look at https://pypi.org/project/nodejs-bin/. It lets you install a specific project version of Node in a Python venv.

That the same as npm (node), bundler (ruby), and many other solutions do. Some details differ, but the concept is the same.

I wrote a short guide for confused node developers at work a while ago https://leontrolski.github.io/virtualenvs-for-node-devs.html