Why do so many programming languages have their own package manager? (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 3 hours ago by DeltaWingDragon@sh.itjust.works to c/programming@programming.dev

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cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/64685863

Lots of programming languages have their own package manager, separate from the distribution or OS package manager.

Going loosely from the TIOBE index:

Python has Pip

C# has NuGet

Javascript has npm for Node.js

Visual Basic also uses NuGet

R has a repository of packages that can be installed by running install.packages("something") in R

Rust has Cargo/Crates

Go has the go get command

Swift has its own package manager swift package

Ruby has RubyGems

Java has Maven and Gradle (not sure if they are full package managers, or build automation tools with dependency resolution)

PHP has Composer for managing libraries and dependencies

C and C++ are the only exceptions I can think of, off the top of my head; libraries are managed by, and coupled to, the operating system

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[-] terabyterex@lemmy.world 12 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

i dont understand why you are confused. are you suggesting they should be in the OS? so each library has to be managed at least 6 times and then the ides and language tools have to support all these different stores? i bet ci/cd would just be awesome

or are you suggesting that all language maintainers work together in harmony and support one another?

C and C++ dont have package managers because they are older than the concept.

this post was submitted on 06 Aug 2026

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