Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Ninja Build VS Gitless

Compare Ninja Build VS Gitless 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.

Gitless logo Gitless

Gitless is an experimental version control system built on top of Git.
  • Ninja Build Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-14
  • Gitless Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-07-22

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
    Ninjaโ€™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.

Gitless features and specs

  • User-Friendly
    Gitless aims to provide a simpler interface compared to Git, which can be beneficial for users who find Git's command-line interface complex and intimidating.
  • Simplified Workflow
    Gitless simplifies branching and merging operations, reducing the cognitive load on developers who are overwhelmed by Git's more intricate command structure.
  • Improved Usability
    By abstracting some of the more complex aspects of Git, Gitless improves usability, especially for beginners who struggle with Git's steep learning curve.
  • Fault Isolation
    Gitless is built on top of Git, ensuring that users can still benefit from Git's robust version control features and data integrity mechanisms while enjoying a simplified experience.

Possible disadvantages of Gitless

  • Limited Adoption
    As a lesser-known alternative, Gitless has limited community support and adoption, which may lead to fewer resources and tutorials available for troubleshooting.
  • Potential Compatibility Issues
    Because Gitless operates on top of Git, there may be some compatibility issues or unexpected behaviors when interacting with projects or developers using standard Git workflows.
  • Reduced Feature Set
    While it simplifies certain tasks, Gitless may not support all advanced features and configurations available in Git, limiting its suitability for complex or large-scale projects.
  • Learning Overhead for Advanced Users
    Experienced Git users may find Gitless limiting or unnecessary due to the additional learning overhead without significant advantages for their workflow.

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)

Gitless videos

No Gitless 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 Gitless)
Front End Package Manager
Code Collaboration
0 0%
100% 100
JS Build Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Git
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Ninja Build should be more popular than Gitless. It has been mentiond 23 times since March 2021. 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 / 12 months 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 โ€“ 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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Gitless mentions (14)

  • Introduction to Gitless GitOps: A New OCI-Centric and Secure Architecture
    This is unrelated to the tool called "Gitless": https://gitless.com/. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Is it time to look past Git?
    One such project is the Gitless initiative which has a Python wrapper around Git proper providing far-simpler workflows based on some solid research. Unfortunately it doesn't look like Gitless' Python codebase has had active development recently, which doesn't inspire much confidence. - Source: dev.to / about 4 years ago
  • What Comes After Git
    You and me both. Git's interface has been very hard for me to understand (especially coming from Mercurial). I ended up finding Gitless (https://gitless.com), a wrapper around Git with a better interface, and loving it. - Source: Hacker News / about 4 years ago
  • Pijul 1.0 Beta
    > > To differentiate from Git Pijul should focus on usability... If Pijul has an easy to use interface like Mercurial did then that will massively help adoption. > I don't think the goal or differentiation of pijul is to be popular via good UI, though. If the theory of patches is good, it doesn't matter if pijul "wins" or not, as long as whatever does can integrate it. If the theory of patches is bad, I... - Source: Hacker News / over 4 years ago
  • Pijul 1.0 Beta
    I'd like to think it was my project (https://github.com/martinvonz/jj), but other possibilities include Gitless (https://gitless.com/) or Bazaar (https://bazaar.canonical.com/). - Source: Hacker News / over 4 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Ninja Build and Gitless, 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.

Pro Git - The Git Book is the official tutorial about Git.

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

Pijul - Pijul is a free and open source distributed version control system based on a sound theory of...

npm - npm is a package manager for Node.

lazygit - Simple terminal UI for git commands.