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Apache Maven vs Buck: What are the differences?

Introduction

In this article, we will compare Apache Maven and Buck, two popular build tools used in software development. Both tools offer efficient ways to build and manage projects, but they have key differences that make them suitable for different scenarios.

  1. Build strategy: Maven uses a declarative approach, where developers define a set of dependencies and a project structure in XML configuration files. Buck, on the other hand, uses a build graph model where builds are defined as directed acyclic graphs, allowing for fine-grained control over build dependencies.

  2. Build performance: While Maven is known for its ability to handle large projects with complex dependency trees, Buck is designed to provide faster build times. Buck utilizes advanced caching mechanisms and parallel execution to improve build performance, making it ideal for large-scale projects with frequent incremental builds.

  3. Language support: Maven natively supports Java projects and provides plugins for other languages such as C++, JavaScript, and Python. In contrast, Buck supports multiple languages including Java, C++, Objective-C, and Android, and provides build rules specifically optimized for each language.

  4. Dependency management: Maven's dependency management is centralized, relying on a global repository system where dependencies are downloaded and cached. Buck, on the other hand, uses a more decentralized approach by caching dependencies locally within the project, reducing the need for network requests and improving build reproducibility.

  5. Development workflow: Maven focuses on convention over configuration, providing a set of default behaviors that are suitable for most projects. In contrast, Buck allows developers to have more control over the build process by defining custom build rules, resulting in a highly customizable workflow.

  6. Integration with IDEs: Maven has strong integration with IDEs such as Eclipse and IntelliJ IDEA, providing features like automatic project setup, dependency management, and incremental builds. Buck, while also providing IDE integration, is more flexible in terms of supporting different build environments, making it easier to integrate with different development workflows.

In summary, Apache Maven and Buck differ in their build strategy, performance, language support, dependency management, development workflow, and IDE integration. While Maven is suitable for convention-based projects with complex dependency management, Buck excels in providing faster build times, customizable build graphs, and multi-language support.

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Pros of Buck
Pros of Apache Maven
  • 4
    Fast
  • 1
    Java
  • 1
    Facebook
  • 1
    Runs on OSX
  • 1
    Windows Support
  • 137
    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 Buck
Cons of Apache Maven
  • 2
    Lack of Documentation
  • 1
    Learning Curve
  • 6
    Complex
  • 1
    Inconsistent buillds
  • 0
    Not many plugin-alternatives

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What is Buck?

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

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 Buck?
What companies use Apache Maven?
See which teams inside your own company are using Buck or Apache Maven.
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What tools integrate with Buck?
What tools integrate with Apache Maven?

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What are some alternatives to Buck and Apache Maven?
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.
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.
CMake
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.
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
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.
See all alternatives