Apache Maven vs Apache Tomcat

Overview

Apache Maven

Stacks3.4K

Followers1.7K

Votes414

GitHub Stars4.8K

Forks2.8K

Apache Tomcat

Stacks16.9K

Followers12.6K

Votes201

GitHub Stars8.0K

Forks5.3K

Apache Maven vs Apache Tomcat: What are the differences?

Installation and Purpose: Apache Maven is a build management tool that is used to build and manage projects, while Apache Tomcat is a web container that is used to run and deploy Java web applications.
Function: Maven focuses on project dependency management, build automation, and standardization of project structure and processes. Tomcat, on the other hand, is specialized for running Java Servlets and JavaServer Pages (JSP) web applications.
Build Process: Maven uses a declarative XML-based configuration file called the "pom.xml" to define project settings, dependencies, and build goals, which allows for easy automation and repeatability. Tomcat, on the other hand, does not have a built-in build process and relies on the deployment of pre-compiled Java web applications.
Project Structure: Maven enforces a specific project structure called the "Standard Directory Layout" to ensure consistency and ease of navigation. Tomcat does not impose any specific project structure requirements, allowing developers more flexibility.
Dependency Management: Maven has a powerful dependency management system that automatically downloads, manages, and resolves project dependencies, including both external libraries and other Maven-based projects. Tomcat can handle dependencies but does not offer the same level of automation and flexibility as Maven.
Deployment: Maven can deploy project artifacts to various repositories, including local repositories, remote repositories, and even to the Maven Central Repository for public distribution. Tomcat, on the other hand, deploys web applications directly to the Tomcat server, either by copying the web application directory or by using the Tomcat Manager web interface.

In summary, Apache Maven is a build management tool focused on project structure, automation, and dependency management, while Apache Tomcat is a web container specialized for running Java web applications. Maven provides a standardized build process with dependency resolution, while Tomcat offers a lightweight environment for deploying and running web applications.

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Advice on Apache Maven, Apache Tomcat

Hari

Mar 3, 2020

Needs advice

I was in a situation where I have to configure 40 RHEL servers 20 each for Apache HTTP Server and Tomcat server. My task was to

configure LVM with required logical volumes, format and mount for HTTP and Tomcat servers accordingly.
Install apache and tomcat.
Generate and apply selfsigned certs to http server.
Modify default ports on Tomcat to different ports.
Create users on RHEL for application support team.
other administrative tasks like, start, stop and restart HTTP and Tomcat services.

I have utilized the power of ansible for all these tasks, which made it easy and manageable.

419k views419k

Comments

Detailed Comparison

Apache Maven	Apache Tomcat
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.	Apache Tomcat powers numerous large-scale, mission-critical web applications across a diverse range of industries and organizations.
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 8.0K
GitHub Forks 2.8K	GitHub Forks 5.3K
Stacks 3.4K	Stacks 16.9K
Followers 1.7K	Followers 12.6K
Votes 414	Votes 201
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 79 Easy 72 Java 49 Popular 1 Spring web Cons 3 Blocking - each http request block a thread 2 Easy to set up

What are some alternatives to Apache Maven, Apache Tomcat?

NGINX

nginx [engine x] is an HTTP and reverse proxy server, as well as a mail proxy server, written by Igor Sysoev. According to Netcraft nginx served or proxied 30.46% of the top million busiest sites in Jan 2018.

Apache HTTP Server

The Apache HTTP Server is a powerful and flexible HTTP/1.1 compliant web server. Originally designed as a replacement for the NCSA HTTP Server, it has grown to be the most popular web server on the Internet.

Unicorn

Unicorn is an HTTP server for Rack applications designed to only serve fast clients on low-latency, high-bandwidth connections and take advantage of features in Unix/Unix-like kernels. Slow clients should only be served by placing a reverse proxy capable of fully buffering both the the request and response in between Unicorn and slow clients.

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.

Microsoft IIS

Internet Information Services (IIS) for Windows Server is a flexible, secure and manageable Web server for hosting anything on the Web. From media streaming to web applications, IIS's scalable and open architecture is ready to handle the most demanding tasks.

Passenger

Phusion Passenger is a web server and application server, designed to be fast, robust and lightweight. It takes a lot of complexity out of deploying web apps, adds powerful enterprise-grade features that are useful in production, and makes administration much easier and less complex.

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.

Gunicorn

Gunicorn is a pre-fork worker model ported from Ruby's Unicorn project. The Gunicorn server is broadly compatible with various web frameworks, simply implemented, light on server resources, and fairly speedy.

Jetty

Jetty is used in a wide variety of projects and products, both in development and production. Jetty can be easily embedded in devices, tools, frameworks, application servers, and clusters. See the Jetty Powered page for more uses of Jetty.

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.

Related Comparisons

Apache Maven vs Apache Tomcat: What are the differences?

Installation and Purpose: Apache Maven is a build management tool that is used to build and manage projects, while Apache Tomcat is a web container that is used to run and deploy Java web applications.
Function: Maven focuses on project dependency management, build automation, and standardization of project structure and processes. Tomcat, on the other hand, is specialized for running Java Servlets and JavaServer Pages (JSP) web applications.
Build Process: Maven uses a declarative XML-based configuration file called the "pom.xml" to define project settings, dependencies, and build goals, which allows for easy automation and repeatability. Tomcat, on the other hand, does not have a built-in build process and relies on the deployment of pre-compiled Java web applications.
Project Structure: Maven enforces a specific project structure called the "Standard Directory Layout" to ensure consistency and ease of navigation. Tomcat does not impose any specific project structure requirements, allowing developers more flexibility.
Dependency Management: Maven has a powerful dependency management system that automatically downloads, manages, and resolves project dependencies, including both external libraries and other Maven-based projects. Tomcat can handle dependencies but does not offer the same level of automation and flexibility as Maven.
Deployment: Maven can deploy project artifacts to various repositories, including local repositories, remote repositories, and even to the Maven Central Repository for public distribution. Tomcat, on the other hand, deploys web applications directly to the Tomcat server, either by copying the web application directory or by using the Tomcat Manager web interface.

Apache Maven vs Apache Tomcat

Overview