January 02, 2003
Maven and Centipede compared
Berin Loritsch has posted an extensive and well-crafted comparison between Maven and Centipede. Great mail, even if you are not on avalon-dev. A required read if you are on the lookout for a build environment for your Java project. His conclusion:Cool are the many positive references to Forrest. Me thinks the shbat distribution of Forrest was a killer feature addition. Kudos to Marc and Jeff for that (IIRC).Neither build system is perfect. After my excersize, I have come to the conclusion that Maven is the more mature of the two build systems--but Centipede is catching up fast. In fact, if the current pace of development for the two projects continue, Centipede may very well overtake Maven in features and ease of use. I think Maven has a lower barrier of entry to the user, but Centipede is becoming easier to use and more developer friendly. I am a fan of black box tools like Maven, but if I need to do something a little out of the ordinary, I like the flexibility of Centipede.