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TOML VS GNU Make

Compare TOML VS GNU Make and see what are their differences

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Contents:
  1. » Base Details
  2. » Videos
  3. » Reviews
  4. » Alternatives

TOML logo TOML

TOML - Tom's Obvious, Minimal Language

GNU Make logo 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.
  • TOML Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-22
  • GNU Make Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-03-12

TOML features and specs

  • Human Readable
    TOML is designed to be easy to read and write due to its simplistic syntax, which is intuitive for humans.
  • Explicit Data Types
    TOML supports various data types including integers, floats, strings, dates, and arrays, which helps in expressing configurations precisely.
  • Hierarchical Configuration
    Allows for nested key-value pairs through its table and array of tables structures, providing a clear way to represent hierarchical data.
  • Standardized Specification
    TOML is guided by a well-defined specification which ensures consistency across different implementations.
  • Lightweight
    It is a minimal and straightforward format that doesn’t require much overhead compared to some other configuration formats.

Possible disadvantages of TOML

  • Limited Complex Data Structures
    TOML is not suited for highly complex data structures, which might make it less ideal for certain advanced configurations.
  • Lacks Scalability Features
    With limited support for advanced features such as conditional configuration or dynamic data, it might not scale well for very large configurations.
  • Not as Widely Adopted
    Compared to formats like JSON or YAML, TOML may have less community support and fewer libraries and tools available across various programming environments.
  • No Native Implementation in Some Languages
    Certain programming environments do not offer native TOML parsing support, requiring third-party libraries which might affect performance or security.

GNU Make features and specs

  • Portability
    GNU Make is highly portable and can be used across various Unix-like operating systems as well as on Windows.
  • Dependency Management
    It efficiently handles complex dependencies between various parts of the software, ensuring that changes are propagated properly.
  • Open Source
    Being open-source software, GNU Make is freely available and can be modified according to user needs.
  • Wide Adoption
    It is widely adopted in the industry, which means that there is extensive documentation and a large community for support.
  • Efficiency
    GNU Make speeds up the build process by only recompiling the necessary parts of the codebase.

Possible disadvantages of GNU Make

  • Complex Syntax
    The syntax of GNU Makefiles can become very complex, especially for large projects, making them hard to read and maintain.
  • Limited Cross-Platform Scripting
    While the tool itself is cross-platform, Makefiles can sometimes include shell commands that are not portable.
  • Steep Learning Curve
    Beginners may find it challenging to grasp the concepts and syntax of GNU Make, leading to a steep learning curve.
  • Debugging Difficulty
    Debugging Makefiles can be difficult, with limited tools available to trace or step through the make process.
  • Performance Bottlenecks
    For extremely large projects, performance can become an issue, as the evaluation of dependencies might become slow.

Analysis of GNU Make

Overall verdict

  • Yes, GNU Make is a robust and reliable tool for managing build processes. Its long-established reputation and widespread use in both open-source and commercial projects underline its effectiveness and flexibility.

Why this product is good

  • GNU Make is widely used because it automates the build process, efficiently handling dependencies and detecting minimal sets of changes in source files. It is highly customizable, supports non-recursive builds, and integrates well into various development environments.

Recommended for

  • Software developers working on C/C++ projects
  • Teams looking to automate build processes
  • Projects that require cross-platform build capabilities
  • Developers who prefer command-line tools
  • Open-source project maintainers

TOML videos

+ Add

JuliaCon 2019 | Pkg, Project.toml, Manifest.toml and Environments | Fredrik Ekre

More videos:

  • Review - TOML Decoder: The Beginning

GNU Make videos

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

Add video

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to TOML and GNU Make)

TOML

GNU Make

Configuration Management
100 100%
Configuration Management
0% 0
JS Build Tools
0 0%
JS Build Tools
100% 100
Software Development
100 100%
Software Development
0% 0
Front End Package Manager
0 0%
Front End Package Manager
100% 100

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, TOML seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 12 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.

TOML mentions (12)

  • My open source project was stolen and relicensed by a YC company
    Some 15 years ago, I made a small configuration language: https://github.com/Respect/Config/blob/master/docs/README.md -- You could say that is just a coincidence, and it's an obvious idea that anyone could have had. But then again, also around that time, a sibling component for the configuration language was featured on "The Changelog" (then, a very popular website featuring interesting projects).... - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Let's meet Black: Python Code Formatting
    Black uses by default the pyproject.toml file. This file contains a section for each different tool we want to use. The use of a configuration file like pyproject.toml is quite a good choice and helps the contributors to use the same tools and configurations you're using. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • ML Configuration Management
    Accessing the rest of the relevant variables is based on the various sections in the toml file. For example, referencing the Production Service Account (SA) will be by accessing the SERVICE_ACCOUNT variable which is under the [prd] section. - Source: dev.to / about 4 years ago
  • Get good Git info from Hugo
    In your project config file, set enableGitInfo to true (here, I’m showing the Hugo default of TOML, although my own config file is actually YAML):. - Source: dev.to / over 4 years ago
  • json, please...
    For config file use case I cannot recommend enough TOML. Source: over 4 years ago
View more

GNU Make mentions (0)

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

What are some alternatives?

When comparing TOML and GNU Make, you can also consider the following products

JSON - (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight data-interchange format

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

YAML - YAML 1.2 --- YAML: YAML Ain't Markup Language

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

Protocol Buffers - A method for serializing and interchanging structured data.

SBT - SBT is a build tool for Scala, like Ant or Maven but with hieroglyphics.

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