Gradle vs Pants

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Gradle

23.4K
9.4K
+ 1
254
Pants

23
85
+ 1
30
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Gradle vs Pants: What are the differences?

<Write Introduction here>
  1. Build Tool Type: Gradle is a build automation tool that can be used for building Java projects, whereas Pants is primarily focused on providing scalable build system automation for software development projects of various languages.
  2. Configuration Language: Gradle uses Groovy and Kotlin scripts for build configuration, enabling developers to write build scripts with a concise and expressive syntax, while Pants relies on a custom Python DSL for defining build configurations, which may offer a different experience for users familiar with Python.
  3. Plugin Ecosystem: Gradle has a robust ecosystem of plugins that can be easily integrated into build scripts to enhance functionality, while Pants has a more limited selection of plugins available, potentially requiring more custom development for specific use cases.
  4. Dependency Resolution: Gradle has a sophisticated dependency management system that can efficiently resolve dependencies, including transitive dependencies, in a project, whereas Pants may have a different approach or mechanism for handling dependencies that may impact the build process.
  5. Community Support: Gradle has a large and active community of users and contributors who provide support, resources, and documentation for using the tool, while Pants may have a smaller community presence, resulting in potentially fewer resources and community-driven solutions available for users.
  6. Integration with IDEs: Gradle offers seamless integration with popular IDEs such as IntelliJ IDEA and Eclipse, providing a smooth development experience for users, whereas Pants may have different levels of integration or support with IDEs, potentially impacting the development workflow for users.

In Summary, Gradle and Pants differ in build tool type, configuration language, plugin ecosystem, dependency resolution, community support, and integration with IDEs.

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Pros of Gradle
Pros of Pants
  • 110
    Flexibility
  • 51
    Easy to use
  • 47
    Groovy dsl
  • 22
    Slow build time
  • 10
    Crazy memory leaks
  • 8
    Fast incremental builds
  • 5
    Kotlin DSL
  • 1
    Windows Support
  • 6
    Creates deployable packages
  • 4
    Runs on Linux
  • 4
    Runs on OS X
  • 4
    BUILD files
  • 4
    Runs tests
  • 4
    Scales
  • 2
    Flexibility
  • 2
    Extensible

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Cons of Gradle
Cons of Pants
  • 8
    Inactionnable documentation
  • 6
    It is just the mess of Ant++
  • 4
    Hard to decide: ten or more ways to achieve one goal
  • 2
    Bad Eclipse tooling
  • 2
    Dependency on groovy
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    What is 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.

    What is 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.

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    What companies use Gradle?
    What companies use Pants?
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    What tools integrate with Gradle?
    What tools integrate with Pants?
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      What are some alternatives to Gradle and Pants?
      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.
      Jenkins
      In a nutshell Jenkins CI is the leading open-source continuous integration server. Built with Java, it provides over 300 plugins to support building and testing virtually any project.
      Groovy
      It is a powerful multi-faceted programming language for the JVM platform. It supports a spectrum of programming styles incorporating features from dynamic languages such as optional and duck typing, but also static compilation and static type checking at levels similar to or greater than Java through its extensible static type checker. It aims to greatly increase developer productivity with many powerful features but also a concise, familiar and easy to learn syntax.
      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.
      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.
      See all alternatives