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  1. Stackups
  2. DevOps
  3. Build Automation
  4. Java Build Tools
  5. CMake vs Pants

CMake vs Pants

OverviewComparisonAlternatives

Overview

Pants
Pants
Stacks23
Followers86
Votes30
GitHub Stars3.7K
Forks674
CMake
CMake
Stacks4.0K
Followers294
Votes1

CMake vs Pants: What are the differences?

<Write Introduction here>
  1. Build System: CMake is a versatile cross-platform build system that generates build files based on the platform being used, providing flexibility in configuring and building projects. On the other hand, Pants is specifically designed for Python projects, focusing on optimizing the build process for Python codebases.

  2. Language Support: CMake supports a wide range of programming languages beyond Python, such as C, C++, and Java, making it suitable for multi-language projects. In contrast, Pants is tailored for Python projects and offers specialized tools and features optimized for Python development.

  3. Dependency Management: CMake relies on manual specification of dependencies using CMakeLists.txt files, requiring users to explicitly define dependencies between components. In contrast, Pants automates dependency management for Python projects by analyzing the codebase and automatically resolving dependencies, streamlining the build process.

  4. Configuration: CMake uses a CMake-specific syntax for configuring build settings, which may require users to learn a new configuration language. Pants, being focused on Python projects, provides intuitive configuration options that align with Python development practices, reducing the learning curve for users familiar with Python.

  5. Build Performance: CMake's performance can vary depending on the complexity of the project and the configuration of the build system, potentially leading to longer build times for large projects. Pants, optimized for Python projects, prioritizes build performance by utilizing caching mechanisms and dependency analysis to improve build times for Python codebases.

  6. Community Ecosystem: CMake has a large and diverse community with extensive resources, plugins, and community-maintained modules available for users to leverage. In comparison, Pants, being more specialized for Python projects, has a focused community that offers tailored support and resources specifically for Python development needs.

In Summary, CMake and Pants differ in their versatility, language support, dependency management, configuration, build performance, and community ecosystem, catering to diverse project requirements and developer preferences.

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Detailed Comparison

Pants
Pants
CMake
CMake

Pants is a build system for Java, Scala and Python. It works particularly well for a source code repository that contains many distinct projects.

It is used to control the software compilation process using simple platform and compiler independent configuration files, and generate native makefiles and workspaces that can be used in the compiler environment of the user's choice.

Builds Java, Scala, and Python.;Adding support for new languages is straightforward.;Supports code generation: thrift, protocol buffers, custom code generators.;Resolves external JVM and Python dependencies.;Runs tests.;Spawns Python and Scala REPLs with appropriate load paths.;Creates deployable packages.;Scales to large repos with many interdependent modules.;Designed for incremental builds.;Support for local and distributed caching.;Especially fast for Scala builds, compared to alternatives.;Builds standalone python executables (PEX files);Has a plugin system to add custom features and override stock behavior.;Runs on Linux and Mac OS X.
-
Statistics
GitHub Stars
3.7K
GitHub Stars
-
GitHub Forks
674
GitHub Forks
-
Stacks
23
Stacks
4.0K
Followers
86
Followers
294
Votes
30
Votes
1
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • 6
    Creates deployable packages
  • 4
    Runs on Linux
  • 4
    Runs on OS X
  • 4
    BUILD files
  • 4
    Runs tests
Pros
  • 1
    Has package registry

What are some alternatives to Pants, CMake?

Apache Maven

Apache Maven

Maven allows a project to build using its project object model (POM) and a set of plugins that are shared by all projects using Maven, providing a uniform build system. Once you familiarize yourself with how one Maven project builds you automatically know how all Maven projects build saving you immense amounts of time when trying to navigate many projects.

Gradle

Gradle

Gradle is a build tool with a focus on build automation and support for multi-language development. If you are building, testing, publishing, and deploying software on any platform, Gradle offers a flexible model that can support the entire development lifecycle from compiling and packaging code to publishing web sites.

Bazel

Bazel

Bazel is a build tool that builds code quickly and reliably. It is used to build the majority of Google's software, and thus it has been designed to handle build problems present in Google's development environment.

JitPack

JitPack

JitPack is an easy to use package repository for Gradle/Sbt and Maven projects. We build GitHub projects on demand and provides ready-to-use packages.

SBT

SBT

It is similar to Java's Maven and Ant. Its main features are: Native support for compiling Scala code and integrating with many Scala test frameworks.

Buck

Buck

Buck encourages the creation of small, reusable modules consisting of code and resources, and supports a variety of languages on many platforms.

Apache Ant

Apache Ant

Ant is a Java-based build tool. In theory, it is kind of like Make, without Make's wrinkles and with the full portability of pure Java code.

Please

Please

Please is a cross-language build system with an emphasis on high performance, extensibility and reproduceability. It supports a number of popular languages and can automate nearly any aspect of your build process.

Sonatype Nexus

Sonatype Nexus

It is an open source repository that supports many artifact formats, including Docker, Java™ and npm. With the Nexus tool integration, pipelines in your toolchain can publish and retrieve versioned apps and their dependencies

JFrog Artifactory

JFrog Artifactory

It integrates with your existing ecosystem supporting end-to-end binary management that overcomes the complexity of working with different software package management systems, and provides consistency to your CI/CD workflow.

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