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We don't use Just, but we have a Makefile that doesn't take advantage of any of Make's dependency features just to easily be able to run several commands in seq

We don't use Just, but we have a Makefile that doesn't take advantage of any of Make's dependency features just to easily be able to run several commands in sequence. JSON is just a really bad format for script configuration—you either have to string commands together on one big line with && or you have to pair package.json with some other strategy for organizing commands. That may end up being a `scripts` directory with a file per script, it could be that you use a framework that bakes all the complexity into shorter wrapper commands (a la vite), or you could use something like Just to sequence them.

soulofmischief 2y ago
It's not perfect but it gets the job done. Sometimes it's ugly but in the end it forces me to break commands down into subcommands, which can increase clarity. But sometimes you do have to write a collection of script files for complex multi-line scripts. I assumed I would still do that with just? Is the idea for these to all live in a single just file? I like having larger programs separated as individual files. All good points, though. I like make too, but it can definitely be needlessly verbose. My main thing would be not wanting to need users to have another binary installed locally. Can just live in my repository? Edit: Nevermind! https://just.systems/man/en/nodejs-installation.html https://just.systems/man/en/nodejs-installation.html > `just-install` will install a local, platform-specific binary as part of the npm install command. This removes the need for every developer to install just independently using one of the processes mentioned above.
- soulofmischief 2y ago
  After digging into it more, it seems `just` requires `sh` to function, adding friction for Windows developers. I don't develop on Windows but that friction does reduce portability. There's ambiguity in which package to use on Node. Both `just-install` and `rust-just` are recommended in the docs, with no disambiguation. `just-install` is maintained by another party and adds an attack surface I'm not sure I'm comfortable with given my current needs. The other recommended package, `rust-just` is also maintained by another party, has bad SEO and recommends being installed as a global dependency. All of this just adds too much friction if one is already using a package.json. My monorepos frequently contain codebases in multiple languages and so far a package.json and workspaces workflow has met my needs. I appreciate everyone for answering my questions and giving advice.

soulofmischief 2y ago

It's not perfect but it gets the job done. Sometimes it's ugly but in the end it forces me to break commands down into subcommands, which can increase clarity. But sometimes you do have to write a collection of script files for complex multi-line scripts. I assumed I would still do that with just? Is the idea for these to all live in a single just file? I like having larger programs separated as individual files. All good points, though. I like make too, but it can definitely be needlessly verbose. My main thing would be not wanting to need users to have another binary installed locally. Can just live in my repository? Edit: Nevermind! https://just.systems/man/en/nodejs-installation.html https://just.systems/man/en/nodejs-installation.html > `just-install` will install a local, platform-specific binary as part of the npm install command. This removes the need for every developer to install just independently using one of the processes mentioned above.

soulofmischief 2y ago
After digging into it more, it seems `just` requires `sh` to function, adding friction for Windows developers. I don't develop on Windows but that friction does reduce portability. There's ambiguity in which package to use on Node. Both `just-install` and `rust-just` are recommended in the docs, with no disambiguation. `just-install` is maintained by another party and adds an attack surface I'm not sure I'm comfortable with given my current needs. The other recommended package, `rust-just` is also maintained by another party, has bad SEO and recommends being installed as a global dependency. All of this just adds too much friction if one is already using a package.json. My monorepos frequently contain codebases in multiple languages and so far a package.json and workspaces workflow has met my needs. I appreciate everyone for answering my questions and giving advice.