diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 337728ec2..5aaf7f5f3 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -175,13 +175,17 @@ over `pip`.
 
 Bootstrap (`uv`):
 
+By default `uv` will attempt to build the datafusion python package. For our development we prefer to build manually. This means
+that when creating your virtual environment using `uv sync` you need to pass in the additional `--no-install-package datafusion`
+and for `uv run` commands the additional parameter `--no-project`
+
 ```bash
 # fetch this repo
 git clone git@github.com:apache/datafusion-python.git
 # create the virtual enviornment
 uv sync --dev --no-install-package datafusion
 # activate the environment
-source venv/bin/activate
+source .venv/bin/activate
 ```
 
 Bootstrap (`pip`):
@@ -190,9 +194,9 @@ Bootstrap (`pip`):
 # fetch this repo
 git clone git@github.com:apache/datafusion-python.git
 # prepare development environment (used to build wheel / install in development)
-python3 -m venv venv
+python3 -m venv .venv
 # activate the venv
-source venv/bin/activate
+source .venv/bin/activate
 # update pip itself if necessary
 python -m pip install -U pip
 # install dependencies
@@ -217,8 +221,8 @@ Alternatively if you are using `uv` you can do the following without
 needing to activate the virtual environment:
 
 ```bash
-uv maturin delelop --uv
-uv pytest .
+uv run --no-project maturin develop --uv
+uv --no-project pytest .
 ```
 
 ### Running & Installing pre-commit hooks
diff --git a/dev/python_lint.sh b/dev/python_lint.sh
index 29f0d4833..2d867f29d 100755
--- a/dev/python_lint.sh
+++ b/dev/python_lint.sh
@@ -21,6 +21,6 @@
 # DataFusion CI does
 
 set -e
-source venv/bin/activate
+source .venv/bin/activate
 flake8 --exclude venv,benchmarks/db-benchmark --ignore=E501,W503
 black --line-length 79 .
diff --git a/dev/release/README.md b/dev/release/README.md
index 4ceaf11ae..f0b333999 100644
--- a/dev/release/README.md
+++ b/dev/release/README.md
@@ -172,8 +172,8 @@ git checkout 40.0.0-rc1
 git submodule update --init --recursive
 
 # create the env
-python3 -m venv venv
-source venv/bin/activate
+python3 -m venv .venv
+source .venv/bin/activate
 
 # install release candidate
 pip install --extra-index-url https://test.pypi.org/simple/ datafusion==40.0.0
diff --git a/dev/release/verify-release-candidate.sh b/dev/release/verify-release-candidate.sh
index 5fee95d45..1a9104b55 100755
--- a/dev/release/verify-release-candidate.sh
+++ b/dev/release/verify-release-candidate.sh
@@ -125,8 +125,8 @@ test_source_distribution() {
   git clone https://github.com/apache/arrow-testing.git testing
   git clone https://github.com/apache/parquet-testing.git parquet-testing
 
-  python3 -m venv venv
-  source venv/bin/activate
+  python3 -m venv .venv
+  source .venv/bin/activate
   python3 -m pip install -U pip
   python3 -m pip install -r requirements-310.txt
   maturin develop
diff --git a/docs/README.md b/docs/README.md
index b4b94120e..2bffea9bd 100644
--- a/docs/README.md
+++ b/docs/README.md
@@ -26,42 +26,32 @@ when changes are merged to the main branch.
 ## Dependencies
 
 It's recommended to install build dependencies and build the documentation
-inside a Python `venv`.
+inside a Python `venv` using `uv`.
 
 To prepare building the documentation run the following on the root level of the project:
 
-1. Set up virtual environment if it was not already created
-   ```bash
-   python3 -m venv venv
-   ```
-1. Activate virtual environment
-    ```bash
-    source venv/bin/activate
-    ```
-1. Install Datafusion's Python dependencies
-    ```bash
-    pip install -r requirements-310.txt
-    ```
-1. Install documentation dependencies
-    ```bash
-    pip install -r docs/requirements.txt
-    ```
+```bash
+# Set up a virtual environment with the documentation dependencies
+uv sync --dev --group docs --no-install-package datafusion
+```
 
 ## Build & Preview
 
 Run the provided script to build the HTML pages.
 
 ```bash
-cd docs
-./build.sh
+# Build the repository
+uv run --no-project maturin develop --uv
+# Build the documentation
+uv run --no-project docs/build.sh
 ```
 
-The HTML will be generated into a `build` directory.
+The HTML will be generated into a `build` directory in `docs`.
 
 Preview the site on Linux by running this command.
 
 ```bash
-firefox build/html/index.html
+firefox docs/build/html/index.html
 ```
 
 ## Release Process
diff --git a/docs/build.sh b/docs/build.sh
index 31398d195..f73330323 100755
--- a/docs/build.sh
+++ b/docs/build.sh
@@ -20,6 +20,10 @@
 
 set -e
 
+original_dir=$(pwd)
+script_dir=$(dirname "$(realpath "$0")")
+cd "$script_dir" || exit
+
 if [ ! -f pokemon.csv ]; then
     curl -O https://gist.githubusercontent.com/ritchie46/cac6b337ea52281aa23c049250a4ff03/raw/89a957ff3919d90e6ef2d34235e6bf22304f3366/pokemon.csv
 fi
@@ -33,3 +37,5 @@ rm -rf temp 2> /dev/null
 mkdir temp
 cp -rf source/* temp/
 make SOURCEDIR=`pwd`/temp html
+
+cd "$original_dir" || exit
diff --git a/docs/source/contributor-guide/introduction.rst b/docs/source/contributor-guide/introduction.rst
index 4457a898f..fb98cfd1d 100644
--- a/docs/source/contributor-guide/introduction.rst
+++ b/docs/source/contributor-guide/introduction.rst
@@ -29,22 +29,24 @@ Doing so is a great way to help the community as well as get more familiar with
 How to develop
 --------------
 
-This assumes that you have rust and cargo installed. We use the workflow recommended by `pyo3 <https://github.com/PyO3/pyo3>`_ and `maturin <https://github.com/PyO3/maturin>`_.
+This assumes that you have rust and cargo installed. We use the workflow recommended by
+`pyo3 <https://github.com/PyO3/pyo3>`_ and `maturin <https://github.com/PyO3/maturin>`_. We recommend using
+`uv <https://docs.astral.sh/uv/>`_ for python package management.
+
+By default `uv` will attempt to build the datafusion python package. For our development we prefer to build manually. This means
+that when creating your virtual environment using `uv sync` you need to pass in the additional `--no-install-package datafusion`
+and for `uv run` commands the additional parameter `--no-project`
 
 Bootstrap:
 
 .. code-block:: shell
 
     # fetch this repo
-    git clone git@github.com:apache/arrow-datafusion-python.git
-    # prepare development environment (used to build wheel / install in development)
-    python3 -m venv venv
-    # activate the venv
-    source venv/bin/activate
-    # update pip itself if necessary
-    python -m pip install -U pip
-    # install dependencies (for Python 3.8+)
-    python -m pip install -r requirements-310.txt
+    git clone git@github.com:apache/datafusion-python.git
+    # create the virtual enviornment
+    uv sync --dev --no-install-package datafusion
+    # activate the environment
+    source .venv/bin/activate
 
 The tests rely on test data in git submodules.
 
@@ -58,8 +60,8 @@ Whenever rust code changes (your changes or via `git pull`):
 
 .. code-block:: shell
 
-   # make sure you activate the venv using "source venv/bin/activate" first
-   maturin develop
+   # make sure you activate the venv using "source .venv/bin/activate" first
+   maturin develop -uv
    python -m pytest
 
 Running & Installing pre-commit hooks
@@ -86,20 +88,10 @@ Mostly, the ``python`` code is limited to pure wrappers with type hints and good
 Update Dependencies
 -------------------
 
-To change test dependencies, change the `requirements.in` and run
-
-.. code-block:: shell
-
-    # install pip-tools (this can be done only once), also consider running in venv
-    python -m pip install pip-tools
-    python -m piptools compile --generate-hashes -o requirements-310.txt
+To change test dependencies, change the ``pyproject.toml`` and run
 
-
-To update dependencies, run with `-U`
+To update dependencies, run
 
 .. code-block:: shell
 
-   python -m piptools compile -U --generate-hashes -o requirements-310.txt
-
-
-More details about pip-tools `here <https://github.com/jazzband/pip-tools>`_
+    uv sync --dev --no-install-package datafusion