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Why do so many programming languages have their own package manager? (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 2 days ago by DeltaWingDragon@sh.itjust.works to c/programming@programming.dev

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cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/64685863

Lots of programming languages have their own package manager, separate from the distribution or OS package manager.

Going loosely from the TIOBE index:

Python has Pip

C# has NuGet

Javascript has npm for Node.js

Visual Basic also uses NuGet

R has a repository of packages that can be installed by running install.packages("something") in R

Rust has Cargo/Crates

Go has the go get command

Swift has its own package manager swift package

Ruby has RubyGems

Java has Maven and Gradle (not sure if they are full package managers, or build automation tools with dependency resolution)

PHP has Composer for managing libraries and dependencies

C and C++ are the only exceptions I can think of, off the top of my head; libraries are managed by, and coupled to, the operating system

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[–] bluGill@fedia.io 7 points 2 days ago

For the simple cases, a language package manager is easier to write and makes things easy. However, simple cases aren't at everything and for the more complex cases, such as what C and C++ is commonly used for, a language package manager is not complex enough to handle all the little weird special cases and so it would be a bad idea.

Those who use a language for something complex will not use the built-in package manager. Realistically though, very few people are writing complex software and so this objection, although real, is probably a pedantic thing that doesn't affect you.