Apache Maven vs SCons

Apache Maven is a free build tool for Java projects. It uses a project object model, or POM, and plugins to manage compilation, testing and documentation through a uniform build system. Maven manages dependencies, including transitive dependencies and automatic updates, and can download them from a central repository. Project metadata can produce outputs such as JARs, WARs and distributions. Maven can also generate project information, including changelogs, cross-referenced sources, dependency lists and unit test reports. Java or scripting-language plugins extend it, and it can work with source control systems such as Subversion or Git to manage tag-based releases. It runs on Windows, macOS and Linux. Maven 3.10 and later requires JDK 8 or above to execute, while toolchains can target other JDK versions. Its project layout is opinionated, so projects with unusual structures that cannot be reorganized may have to give up some Maven features or Maven itself. The software is distributed under Apache License 2.0; its listed plan costs nothing.

SCons is an open source software construction tool and cross-platform alternative to Make, with builds configured through Python scripts. It analyzes dependencies automatically for C, C++ and Fortran, and users can extend that analysis with their own scanners. Built-in support covers C, C++, D, Java, Fortran, Yacc, Lex, Qt, SWIG, TeX and LaTeX; more tools are available from contributed sources. Builds can run in parallel, detect changes using MD5 signatures and cache built files. SCons can also generate Microsoft Visual Studio project and solution files. It is distributed under the MIT license, which permits use, modification and redistribution without charge if the license is retained. The project recommends installing the Python wheel from PyPI with pip, and offers standalone bundles; scons-local can run without installation from a local directory. SCons 4.11.1 requires Python 3.7 or later and normally has no other dependencies. Build files execute as Python code, and SCons is not sandboxed: file operations and processes run with the user's identity. The project says its current User's Guide may have missing or incorrect material.