Ansible vs Conan: What are the differences?

Ansible and Conan are both popular tools in the field of software development and deployment. While they have some similarities, there are several key differences between the two.

1. Integration vs Dependency Management: Ansible is primarily an automation tool that focuses on managing and orchestrating IT infrastructure and application deployment processes. It is used for tasks such as configuration management, application deployment, and cloud provisioning. On the other hand, Conan is a dependency and package manager that is specifically designed for C and C++ projects. It helps in managing the dependencies of projects and enables easy sharing and reuse of libraries.

2. Domain-specific vs General-purpose: Ansible is a general-purpose automation tool that can be used in various domains such as IT operations, system administration, and DevOps. It provides a wide range of functionalities and can be extended to support different use cases. Conan, on the other hand, is domain-specific and focused on solving the specific problem of dependency management in C and C++ projects. It provides specialized features and workflows tailored to the needs of the C and C++ development community.

3. Configuration Management vs Package Management: Ansible's core functionality lies in configuration management, where it allows users to define and enforce the desired state of systems and applications. It provides tools for managing system configurations, application deployments, and service orchestration. Conan, on the other hand, is primarily a package management tool that focuses on resolving and managing dependencies for C and C++ projects. It provides features for package creation, versioning, and distribution.

4. Agentless vs Agent-based: Ansible operates in an agentless manner, where it uses SSH and other remote management protocols to connect to and control target systems. This makes it lightweight and easy to set up, as no additional software needs to be installed on the target systems. Conan, on the other hand, requires a Conan client to be installed on the developer's machine to manage dependencies. This client communicates with the Conan server to resolve and fetch the required packages.

5. Procedural vs Declarative: Ansible follows a procedural approach, where tasks are executed step-by-step in a predefined order. Users define the specific steps and actions to be taken to achieve the desired state of systems and applications. Conan, on the other hand, follows a declarative approach, where users define the desired state of the system or project, and Conan automatically resolves and manages the required dependencies to achieve that state.

6. Language Support: Ansible supports a wide range of programming languages and technologies, including Python, Ruby, Java, and more. It provides modules and plugins to interact with various systems and services. Conan, on the other hand, is specifically designed for C and C++ projects and provides support for managing dependencies for these languages. It integrates well with build systems like CMake and provides features like recipe generation and package export.

In Summary, Ansible is a general-purpose automation tool focused on configuration management, while Conan is a domain-specific package manager for C and C++ projects. Ansible operates in an agentless, procedural manner and supports a wide range of technologies, while Conan requires a client installation, follows a declarative approach, and is tailored for C and C++ dependency management.