Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Ninja Build VS MakeMe

Compare Ninja Build VS MakeMe and see what are their differences

Ninja Build logo Ninja Build

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

MakeMe logo MakeMe

Building Software Made Simple
  • Ninja Build Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-14
  • MakeMe Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-16

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.

MakeMe features and specs

  • Automated Dependency Management
    MakeMe automatically tracks and analyzes project dependencies, ensuring that all required components and libraries are up-to-date and correctly configured without manual intervention.
  • Cross-Platform Support
    The tool supports various operating systems, allowing developers to build and manage projects across different environments effectively.
  • Efficient Build Automation
    MakeMe streamlines the build process with intelligent target tracking, ensuring that only necessary files are recompiled, thus saving time and computational resources.
  • Easy Integration
    With its simple syntax and configuration, MakeMe can be easily integrated into existing projects, reducing the learning curve for new users and facilitating a quick setup.

Possible disadvantages of MakeMe

  • Limited Documentation
    The tool has limited official documentation, which may pose challenges for users who encounter complex issues or require in-depth guidance on advanced features.
  • Niche Tool
    MakeMe may not have as wide a user base as some other build tools, potentially resulting in less community support and fewer third-party resources or plugins.
  • Steep Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    While basic functionalities are easy to grasp, fully utilizing some of the more advanced features of MakeMe may require significant time and experimentation.
  • Potential Compatibility Issues
    In some cases, users might encounter compatibility issues with certain platforms or tools, necessitating workarounds or adjustments.

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)

MakeMe videos

No MakeMe videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Add video

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Ninja Build and MakeMe)
Front End Package Manager
JS Build Tools
67 67%
33% 33
Development
46 46%
54% 54
JavaScript Package Manager

User comments

Share your experience with using Ninja Build and MakeMe. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Ninja Build seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 22 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 (22)

  • 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 1 year 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 1 year 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 / over 1 year 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: almost 2 years ago
  • Building and Running Pidgin and Finch 3
    Now that you have your build system all generated you can go ahead and build everything. By default Meson will use Ninja as the build tool. Ninja is similar to Make but much much faster. You can also generate additional build systems but that's outside of the scope of this post. - Source: dev.to / about 2 years ago
View more

MakeMe mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of MakeMe yet. Tracking of MakeMe recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Ninja Build and MakeMe, 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.

Meson - Meson is an open source build system meant to be both extremely fast, and, even more importantly...

npm - npm is a package manager for Node.

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

JSHint - New JSHint website. Anton Kovalyov Oct 1st, 2013. For the last couple of weeks I've been working on a new homepage for JSHint and today I'm proud to announce the new jshint. com! JSHint Website.

CMake - CMake is an open-source, cross-platform family of tools designed to build, test and package software.