Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Ninja Build VS code-prettify

Compare Ninja Build VS code-prettify and see what are their differences

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Ninja Build logo Ninja Build

Ninja is a small build system with a focus on speed.

code-prettify logo code-prettify

Code Prettify is an embeddable script that makes source-code snippets in HTML prettier.
  • Ninja Build Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-14
  • code-prettify Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-25

Ninja Build features and specs

  • Speed
    Ninja is designed for high performance, making it one of the fastest build systems available. It minimizes the time spent on tasks such as parsing, dependency resolution, and build command execution.
  • Simplicity
    Ninja’s configuration syntax is straightforward and concise, reducing the complexity involved in setting up builds and allowing for a clear overview of build rules.
  • Parallelism
    Ninja excels at handling parallel builds, leveraging multiple cores effectively to decrease overall build times.
  • Incremental Builds
    Ninja efficiently handles incremental builds by only recompiling what is necessary, which significantly speeds up iterative development processes.
  • Integration
    Ninja is often used as the backend for more complex build systems (e.g., CMake), making it a versatile tool within a larger toolchain.

Possible disadvantages of Ninja Build

  • Limited Features
    Ninja is deliberately minimalist, lacking many of the features found in other build systems, such as built-in support for complex dependency management and custom build steps.
  • Learning Curve
    While Ninja itself has a simple syntax, the learning curve can be steep for those unfamiliar with how build systems work or for those coming from more feature-rich environments.
  • Dependency on Generators
    Ninja often requires an external generator (like CMake) to create its build files, which can add to the setup complexity and introduce dependencies on other tools.
  • Limited Scripting Capabilities
    Unlike some build systems that offer extensive scripting support (e.g., Python in SCons), Ninja's functionality is largely limited to what its syntax and predefined rules allow.
  • Less Flexibility
    Due to its minimalist nature, Ninja may not be as flexible as other build systems, potentially limiting its use in more complex or unusual build scenarios.

code-prettify features and specs

  • Easy to Integrate
    Code-prettify is simple to integrate into web projects. It uses plain JavaScript and works by adding a single script tag to your HTML, which makes it easy to set up.
  • Language Support
    The library supports a wide range of programming languages out of the box, which makes it versatile for various types of code highlighting without needing additional plugins.
  • Lightweight
    Compared to some other syntax highlighters, code-prettify has a relatively small footprint, which helps in maintaining fast loading times for web pages.
  • Browser Compatibility
    It is compatible with most modern and older browsers, ensuring consistent syntax highlighting across different client environments.

Possible disadvantages of code-prettify

  • Archived Status
    The repository is archived, meaning it is no longer actively maintained by Google. This could pose issues with future compatibility or bug fixes.
  • Customization Limitations
    While it provides a decent level of default styling, customization options are limited compared to some other syntax highlighters that offer more theming flexibility.
  • Lack of Recent Updates
    Being an archived project, it doesn't receive updates or improvements, missing out on newer features or optimizations available in currently maintained libraries.
  • Community Support
    As the project is no longer active, community support may be limited, making it potentially challenging to get help or find resources for troubleshooting issues.

Analysis of Ninja Build

Overall verdict

  • Ninja Build is considered a strong choice for users seeking a fast, reliable, and efficient build system. Its simplicity and focus on performance make it appealing to developers working on projects where build speed is critical.

Why this product is good

  • Ninja Build is a high-performance build system designed to handle complex build processes efficiently. It is known for its minimalistic yet powerful design, which allows for faster build times compared to traditional build systems like Make. Its approach to dependency tracking and parallelism is optimized for modern build environments, making it suitable for large codebases and incremental builds.

Recommended for

    Ninja Build is recommended for developers working on large-scale projects with complex build processes, particularly in environments where build speed and efficiency are prioritized. It is especially beneficial for projects that are continuously integrated or require frequent incremental builds.

Ninja Build videos

FORTNITE STW: HERE IS THE BEST NINJA BUILD (AFTER MONTHS OF TESTING)

code-prettify videos

No code-prettify videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Ninja Build and code-prettify)
Front End Package Manager
Marketing Tools
0 0%
100% 100
JS Build Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Customer Feedback
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Ninja Build seems to be a lot more popular than code-prettify. While we know about 23 links to Ninja Build, we've tracked only 1 mention of code-prettify. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Ninja Build mentions (23)

  • CMake Made Simple: A Reusable Template for Your First C++ Project
    On Windows, download the binaries from the cmake and Ninja websites. After that, add the executables to your PATH. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • TypeScript's Successor is Waiting, and You'll Never Want to Turn Back
    Under the hood, Rescript uses a build system called Ninja. Ninja is similar to Make, but cross-platform and more minimal/performant. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Using Make – writing less Makefile
    Ninja was super easy to pick up even after using make for some time (10+ years). GN is just a ninja generator that is optional. https://gn.googlesource.com/gn/+/main/docs/quick_start.md https://ninja-build.org/. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • Ask HN: What outdated tech are you still using and are perfectly happy with?
    Really? I thought most new projects were switching to ninja[^1] and have never used it. [^1]: https://ninja-build.org/. - Source: Hacker News / almost 3 years ago
  • What was used to build C++ programs before Cmake?
    Ninja showed real promise for a while, but then CMake grew up and people stopped seeing a reason to leave it behind. Source: about 3 years ago
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code-prettify mentions (1)

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Ninja Build and code-prettify, you can also consider the following products

GNU Make - GNU Make is a tool which controls the generation of executables and other non-source files of a program from the program's source files.

highlight.js - Highlight.js is a syntax highlighter written in JavaScript. It works in the browser as well as on the server.

SCons - SCons is an Open Source software construction tool—that is, a next-generation build tool.

Apache Archiva - Apache Archiva is an extensible repository management software.

npm - npm is a package manager for Node.

Apache Tika - Apache Tika toolkit detects and extracts metadata and text from different file types.