Packaging
Programs in every programming language need a package manager, in order to manage external dependencies with versions and simplify compilation and structuring.
As such, the package managers usually have the following components:
- The manager itself
- One or more configuration files for defining the versions, and compilation recipes
- Index for external dependencies
- A prescribed folder structure to use
The following is a table of popular programming languages and their package managers:
| Language | Primary Package Manager(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Java | Maven, Gradle | Maven uses XML (pom.xml), Gradle uses Groovy/Kotlin (build.gradle). Both handle dependencies & builds. |
| Python | pip, conda | pip is standard (PyPI); conda also manages environments and non-Python dependencies. |
| JavaScript / Node.js | npm, yarn, pnpm | npm comes by default; yarn and pnpm improve speed and efficiency. |
| TypeScript | npm, yarn, pnpm | Uses the same ecosystem as JavaScript. |
| C / C++ | vcpkg, Conan | vcpkg (by Microsoft) and Conan are modern dependency managers. |
| Rust | Cargo | Built-in, handles packages ("crates") and builds. |
| Go (Golang) | Go Modules (go mod) | Built-in dependency management since Go 1.11+. |
| Ruby | RubyGems, Bundler | RubyGems is the base; Bundler manages project dependencies. |
| PHP | Composer | Standard for PHP package/dependency management. |
| R | CRAN, Bioconductor | CRAN is main repository; Bioconductor for bioinformatics packages. |
| Perl | CPAN | Longstanding Perl package ecosystem. |
| .NET (C#, F#) | NuGet | Official package manager for .NET projects. |
| Haskell | Cabal, Stack | Cabal is traditional; Stack provides reproducible builds. |
| Elixir | Hex | Standard package manager for Elixir/Erlang ecosystem. |
| Erlang | rebar3, Hex | rebar3 is build tool; Hex for package distribution. |
| Scala | sbt, Maven, Gradle | sbt is most popular in Scala projects. |
| Kotlin | Gradle, Maven | Gradle (Kotlin DSL) is the most common. |
| Swift | Swift Package Manager (SPM) | Official tool for Swift package management. |
| Objective-C | CocoaPods, Carthage | Used in iOS/macOS projects. |
| Julia | Pkg.jl | Built-in package manager. |
| OCaml | opam | The de facto package manager for OCaml. |
| Dart / Flutter | pub | Standard dependency manager for Dart/Flutter apps. |
| Lua | LuaRocks | Standard Lua package manager. |