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Add to SafariWhen comparing Jam vs Waf, the Slant community recommends Waf for most people. In the question“What are the best open-source build systems for C/C++?” Waf is ranked 10th while Jam is ranked 15th. The most important reason people chose Waf is:
You don't have to learn a domain specific syntax. If you know Python, it's a breeze.
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Has a central package repository
A central repository provides more guarantees about the availability of the package. With requiring directly from repository urls, the entire project could potentially be taken down on a whim.
Pro Community is focused on client side javascript
Because Jam only manages Javascript and only works on the client side, you have the assurance that any packages listed are AMD compatible for asynchronous loading.
Pro Architecture independent
Jam's only a front-end package manager, the rest of your server can be on a different architecture or framework. No matter what the architecture, Jam will integrate easily with it.
Pro Provides the best AMD compatibility allowing for better asynchronous loading
Jam requires AMD (Asynchronous Module Definition), which means faster package loading, as it can be done asynchronously.
Pro Written in Python
You don't have to learn a domain specific syntax. If you know Python, it's a breeze.
Pro File changes are tracked based on a hash of their changes not the time stamp
This means that switching branches in git isn't a big deal.
Pro Very fast
Much faster than its predecessor SCons.
Pro Fairly easy to extend
Pro Very simple graph based API
Cons
Con Forced AMD compatibility means fewer libraries
AMD is currently not as popular as CommonJS modules, which means if a library isn't supported, you'll have to deal with it yourself.
Con Obfuscated documentation
Con Non-standard Python
