Apache Maven vs Git

Overview

Apache Maven

Stacks3.4K

Followers1.7K

Votes414

GitHub Stars4.8K

Forks2.8K

Git

Stacks343.7K

Followers184.2K

Votes6.6K

GitHub Stars57.1K

Forks26.9K

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.

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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Detailed Comparison

Apache Maven	Git
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.	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.
Simple project setup that follows best practices - get a new project or module started in seconds;Consistent usage across all projects means no ramp up time for new developers coming onto a project;Superior dependency management including automatic updating, dependency closures (also known as transitive dependencies);Able to easily work with multiple projects at the same time;A large and growing repository of libraries and metadata to use out of the box, and arrangements in place with the largest Open Source projects for real-time availability of their latest releases;Extensible, with the ability to easily write plugins in Java or scripting languages;Instant access to new features with little or no extra configuration;Ant tasks for dependency management and deployment outside of Maven	-
Statistics
GitHub Stars 4.8K	GitHub Stars 57.1K
GitHub Forks 2.8K	GitHub Forks 26.9K
Stacks 3.4K	Stacks 343.7K
Followers 1.7K	Followers 184.2K
Votes 414	Votes 6.6K
Pros & Cons
Pros 138 Dependency management 70 Necessary evil 60 I’d rather code my app, not my build 48 Publishing packaged artifacts 43 Convention over configuration Cons 6 Complex 1 Inconsistent buillds 0 Not many plugin-alternatives	Pros 1429 Distributed version control system 1053 Efficient branching and merging 959 Fast 843 Open source 726 Better than svn Cons 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

What are some alternatives to Apache Maven, Git?

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 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.

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.

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.

Pants

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

Plastic SCM

Plastic SCM is a distributed version control designed for big projects. It excels on branching and merging, graphical user interfaces, and can also deal with large files and even file-locking (great for game devs). It includes "semantic" features like refactor detection to ease diffing complex refactors.

Pijul

Pijul is a free and open source (AGPL 3) distributed version control system. Its distinctive feature is to be based on a sound theory of patches, which makes it easy to learn and use, and really distributed.

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

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

Related Comparisons

Apache Maven vs Git: What are the differences?

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.

Apache Maven vs Git

Overview