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Maven just hides the complexity in its plugins which are implemented in Java. If you don't need any plugin - then, yes, it's simple. But once you need special
by nimrody 6y ago
Maven just hides the complexity in its plugins which are implemented in Java.
If you don't need any plugin - then, yes, it's simple.
But once you need specialized plugins it's no better than gradle/bazel. The latter two lets you add some logic in the build scripts - so at least it's visible to users. If you need special functionality in Maven you have to write a plugin or gather a few plugins. And when it breaks down (as all tools do) -- it's difficult to find the code and understand the problems.
- krzyk 6y agoWriting Maven plugins is quite easy and doesn't require you to learn another language (like in case of gradle, you have to know groovy).
- tn1 6y agoAt least with Groovy, most Java programs are also valid groovy programs (the converse is not true, but not too different).
- krzyk 6y agoYes, but with groovy you get magnitude slower compilation time, less efficient autocomplete. And a language that has sometimes strange design choices. Groovy is like PHP, if I need to upgrade from Java it would be Scala. At least I get a superior language for also magnitude slower builds.
- tn1 6y agoGradle has a Kotlin Script build script option these days too. I haven't tried it yet, so I'm not sure if it's any better.