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Why do so many programming languages have their own package manager? (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 3 weeks 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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[-] dohpaz42@lemmy.world 50 points 3 weeks ago

Throwing in my two cents:

I would imagine package managers are because of C and C++ not having package managers. I remember 20+ years ago before package managers were a thing, before the Debians, Ubuntus, and Arch (btw)s (before autoconf and configure), when we would download software and have to compile it ourselves, and the lack of reliable means of knowing what dependencies were needed to compile said software. Repeat this ad nauseam for each dependency that itself had dependencies.

It was Hell.

~I for one am grateful for my dependency-resolving overlords. ๐Ÿ™‡โ€โ™‚๏ธ~

[-] netizen@programming.dev 9 points 3 weeks ago

IIRC before first Debian, ny Slackware's packages where plan .tar.gz files

[-] Theoriginalthon@lemmy.world 6 points 3 weeks ago

This is how I got started with Linux. On windows to play media you needed various codec packs and loads of other bullshit. Then I discovered VLC that just worked, and was free? What's this opensource thing is it like freeware? Then my whole computing world opened up.

this post was submitted on 06 Aug 2026
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