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Apache Maven vs Git: What are the differences?

Apache Maven and Git are two popular tools used in software development. While both serve different purposes, they are often used in conjunction with each other to aid in the development process. Understanding the key differences between the two is crucial for developers looking to leverage their capabilities effectively.

  1. Version Control System vs Build Tool: One of the main differences between Apache Maven and Git is their primary purpose. Git is a distributed version control system that allows developers to track and manage changes to source code, while Apache Maven is a build tool used for managing and automating the build process of a software project.

  2. Centralized vs Distributed: Another significant difference is the way they handle repositories. Git is a distributed version control system, meaning each developer has their own local repository that contains the entire project's history. This allows for easy branching, merging, and working offline. On the other hand, Apache Maven relies on a centralized repository where all project dependencies and plugins are stored. Developers can download these dependencies from the central repository when needed.

  3. Branching and Merging: Git provides powerful branching and merging capabilities. Developers can create multiple branches to work on separate features, bug fixes, or experiments, and easily merge them back into the main codebase. Apache Maven, being a build tool, does not have built-in branching and merging capabilities. It focuses on resolving dependencies and building artifacts based on the project configuration.

  4. Dependency Management: Apache Maven excels in dependency management. It allows developers to define project dependencies, such as external libraries or modules, in a declarative manner. Maven can automatically download the required dependencies from the central repository, ensuring that the project builds successfully without manually managing dependencies. Git, on the other hand, does not have native dependency management capabilities.

  5. Build Lifecycle and Plugins: Apache Maven provides a predefined build lifecycle with various phases, such as compiling source code, running tests, packaging artifacts, and deploying. Developers can configure plugins to customize and extend the build process according to their project requirements. Git does not have a built-in build lifecycle or plugin system, as it primarily focuses on version control.

  6. Collaboration and Code Review: Git offers strong collaboration features that enable developers to work together on a project efficiently. It allows for easy sharing of changes, reviewing code, and resolving conflicts. Apache Maven, being a build tool, does not have these collaboration features built-in.

In Summary, Apache Maven is a build tool primarily used for automating the build process and managing project dependencies, while Git is a distributed version control system used for tracking changes to source code and facilitating collaboration among developers.

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Pros of Git
Pros of Apache Maven
  • 1.4K
    Distributed version control system
  • 1.1K
    Efficient branching and merging
  • 959
    Fast
  • 845
    Open source
  • 726
    Better than svn
  • 368
    Great command-line application
  • 306
    Simple
  • 291
    Free
  • 232
    Easy to use
  • 222
    Does not require server
  • 28
    Distributed
  • 23
    Small & Fast
  • 18
    Feature based workflow
  • 15
    Staging Area
  • 13
    Most wide-spread VSC
  • 11
    Disposable Experimentation
  • 11
    Role-based codelines
  • 7
    Frictionless Context Switching
  • 6
    Data Assurance
  • 5
    Efficient
  • 4
    Just awesome
  • 3
    Easy branching and merging
  • 3
    Github integration
  • 2
    Compatible
  • 2
    Possible to lose history and commits
  • 2
    Flexible
  • 1
    Team Integration
  • 1
    Easy
  • 1
    Light
  • 1
    Fast, scalable, distributed revision control system
  • 1
    Rebase supported natively; reflog; access to plumbing
  • 1
    Flexible, easy, Safe, and fast
  • 1
    CLI is great, but the GUI tools are awesome
  • 1
    It's what you do
  • 0
    Phinx
  • 138
    Dependency management
  • 70
    Necessary evil
  • 60
    I’d rather code my app, not my build
  • 48
    Publishing packaged artifacts
  • 43
    Convention over configuration
  • 18
    Modularisation
  • 11
    Consistency across builds
  • 6
    Prevents overengineering using scripting
  • 4
    Runs Tests
  • 4
    Lot of cool plugins
  • 3
    Extensible
  • 2
    Hard to customize
  • 2
    Runs on Linux
  • 1
    Runs on OS X
  • 1
    Slow incremental build
  • 1
    Inconsistent buillds
  • 1
    Undeterminisc
  • 1
    Good IDE tooling

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Cons of Git
Cons of Apache Maven
  • 16
    Hard to learn
  • 11
    Inconsistent command line interface
  • 9
    Easy to lose uncommitted work
  • 8
    Worst documentation ever possibly made
  • 5
    Awful merge handling
  • 3
    Unexistent preventive security flows
  • 3
    Rebase hell
  • 2
    Ironically even die-hard supporters screw up badly
  • 2
    When --force is disabled, cannot rebase
  • 1
    Doesn't scale for big data
  • 6
    Complex
  • 1
    Inconsistent buillds
  • 0
    Not many plugin-alternatives

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What is Git?

Git is a free and open source distributed version control system designed to handle everything from small to very large projects with speed and efficiency.

What is 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.

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What companies use Git?
What companies use Apache Maven?
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Mar 24 2021 at 12:57PM

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What are some alternatives to Git and Apache Maven?
GitHub
GitHub is the best place to share code with friends, co-workers, classmates, and complete strangers. Over three million people use GitHub to build amazing things together.
SVN (Subversion)
Subversion exists to be universally recognized and adopted as an open-source, centralized version control system characterized by its reliability as a safe haven for valuable data; the simplicity of its model and usage; and its ability to support the needs of a wide variety of users and projects, from individuals to large-scale enterprise operations.
Bitbucket
Bitbucket gives teams one place to plan projects, collaborate on code, test and deploy, all with free private Git repositories. Teams choose Bitbucket because it has a superior Jira integration, built-in CI/CD, & is free for up to 5 users.
Perforce
Visibility, access control, workflow and code management for Git environments. Flexibility of collaborating on the same codebase and code reviews using any combination of Perforce and Git workflows and tools without compromise.
Mercurial
Mercurial is dedicated to speed and efficiency with a sane user interface. It is written in Python. Mercurial's implementation and data structures are designed to be fast. You can generate diffs between revisions, or jump back in time within seconds.
See all alternatives