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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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[-] tatterdemalion@programming.dev 7 points 3 weeks ago

In the case of Rust, it makes sense both as a UX win and a way to abstract certain requirements of the build system. Languages don't agree on how to do things like linking packages into a binary or versioning packages. If Rust left all of that unspecified, we'd probably have multiple competing package managers and ecosystems.

this post was submitted on 06 Aug 2026

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