What is Paket and why it is better than NuGet.exe

1. Paket
Sane package management from F# community
Alexandr Sugak,
Software Architect at Sigma Software,
https://github.com/AlexSugak

2. "Different isn't always better, but better is always
different."
(c) Unknown

3. What is Paket
• Dependency manager for .Net and mono
projects;
• Designed to use NuGet packages;
• Can also work with git/http resources and static
files;
• Alternative to VS/NuGet.exe;
• Focus on precise and predictable management
of dependencies.
https://fsprojects.github.io/Paket/index.html

4. How does it work [DEMO]
• paket.bootstrapper.exe: downloads paket.exe;
• Single paket.dependencies file per solution;
• Each project has paket.references file;
• $ paket install downloads packages, generates
paket.lock and updates project references;
• $ paket restore restores all packages;
• $ paket outdated lists all packages that have
newer versions available;
• $ paket update finds and applies new package
versions.

5. paket.dependencies
• Single place for all solution direct
dependencies;
• No transient dependencies, easier to manage;
• Not XML, easier to merge;
• Single version for each package – no version
conflicts

6. paket.references
• Single place for project dependencies;
• No transient dependencies, easier to manage;
• Not XML, easier to merge.

7. paket.lock

8. paket.lock
• Auto-generated;
• Represents complete dependency graph;
• Not changed unless changes in dependencies
or $ packet update;
• Guarantees reliable builds on any environment;
• Can be submitted with bug.

9. paket why

10. Package references

11. Package references
• Conditional references for all supported
framework versions – no package reinstalls
after target framework changes;
• No package version in hint paths – no merge
conflicts when package is updated.

12. Paket is OSS

13. Written in F#
http://www.fssnip.net/h4

14. Paket is very different from
NuGet.exe
• Real OSS, written in F#;
• CLI only;
• Explicit management of transitive dependencies;
• Embraces SemVer;
• Solution-wide dependencies;
• No version in package path;
• Stable basis with paket.lock file;
• Can reference files and projects from git repos;
• Does not support running install.ps1 files.

15. Paket is better!
• No dependency on VS;
• No package version conflicts;
• No more merge conflicts after version update;
• Can concentrate on direct dependencies only;
• Reliable and consistent packages after restore on
any environment;
• No reinstalls after target framework change;
• Can build dependencies from git repo or http
resource directly;
• And many more!

16. Different and better
• Immutable data structures vs. mutable objects
-> sane state management;
• Explicit error types and cases, errors as data
vs. exceptions -> sane error management,
function totality;
• Composition over inheritance -> sane
extensibility;
• Declarative vs. imperative -> sane developers.

17. Thank you!

18. F# in Kharkiv:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/kharkivfsharp/