Isn't Nuget "good enough"?

But when you have lots of nested dependencies...

An Example...

• Charlie.NET depends on XRay.NET 2.0
• Bravo.NET depends on XRay.NET 1.2
• Alpha.NET depends on XRay.NET 1.1 (which means >= 1.1)

We need to install 3 different packages:

1. Alpha.NET
2. Bravo.NET
3. Charlie.NET​

Example from NuGet versioning Part 2: the core algorithm " by Dave Ebbo is licensed under CC BY 2.5

H​ow does NuGet resolve these dependencies?

• If you just install Bravo.NET, you’ll get XRay.NET 1.2

• If you just install Charlie.NET, you’ll get XRay.NET 2.0

• If you first install Alpha, then Bravo then Charlie

• You’ll initially get XRay.NET 1.1 when you install Alpha

• XRay.NET will be updated to 1.2 when you install Bravo

• XRay.NET will be updated to 2.0 when you install Charlie

Example from NuGet versioning Part 2: the core algorithm by Dave Ebbo is licensed under CC BY 2.5

So what's wrong with that?

• What if XRay.NET changed their public API between 1.2 and 2.0?
• What if Alpha.NET and Charlie.NET use APIs that aren't available across versions?​

Caveats

• This is NuGet before MSBuild 15
• Some problems have been addressed by Microsoft
• Nuget Changes with MSBuild 15:
  • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/nuget/consume-packages/dependency-resolution
  • Removes packages.config
  • Handle transitive dependencies​ (but not recorded explicitly)

So why Paket?

• Consistent dependency graph
• Predictable dependency resolution
• Framework-specific dependencies
• References over HTTP

• Automatic removal of unused refs

C​onsistent Dependency Graph

• When you add a package to a project with Paket, it creates a paket.lock file
• This file specifies the project's dependencies, their versions, and any of their dependencies and versions
• Saved to the repository, making package restoration consistent and predictable
• Paket : NuGet :: Yarn : NPM

F​ramework-Specific Dependencies

• Do you have a project running an older version of .NET that you want to upgrade? Paket's ready for that.
  • ​Package conditionals for framework version​
  • Out-of-the-box functionality

U​nused Reference Cleanup

P​aket keeps track of all our dependencies, including transitive dependencies, which means it knows what's being used—and what's not.

This means Paket can remove unused packages without breaking everything.

H​TTP and Git References

E​ver have a script or simple source file you copied from project to project?

Paket supports pulling those down from a local or remote location without copy pasta polluting your delicious code.

D​ependencies with Paket

Paket Files

1. paket.dependencies

   • Declares ​the dependencies for the whole solution

2. paket.references

   • ​​Declares the dependencies for a particular project

3. paket.lock

   • ​​Declares the resolved packages (name, version, etc.) and their dependencies

Some examples...

paket.dependencies

Text

source https://nuget.org/api/v2

// NuGet packages
nuget NUnit ~> 2.6.3
nuget FAKE ~> 3.4
nuget DotNetZip >= 1.9

// Files from GitHub repositories.
github forki/FsUnit FsUnit.fs

// Gist files.
gist Thorium/1972349 timestamp.fs

// HTTP resources.
http http://www.fssnip.net/1n decrypt.fs

Example from Paket's documentation on GitHub

paket.references

Text

Newtonsoft.Json
UnionArgParser
DotNetZip
RestSharp

group Test
  NUnit

Example from Paket's documentation on GitHub

paket.lock

Text

NUGET
  remote: https://nuget.org/api/v2
    Castle.Core (3.3.0)
    Castle.Core-log4net (3.3.0)
      Castle.Core (>= 3.3.0)
      log4net (1.2.10)
    Castle.LoggingFacility (3.3.0)
      Castle.Core (>= 3.3.0)
      Castle.Windsor (>= 3.3.0)
    Castle.Windsor (3.3.0)
      Castle.Core (>= 3.3.0)
    Castle.Windsor-log4net (3.3.0)
      Castle.Core-log4net (>= 3.3.0)
      Castle.LoggingFacility (>= 3.3.0)

Example from Paket's documentation on GitHub

Paket Commands

1. add

   • Adds a new dependency to a solution

2. remove

   • Removes a dependency from a solution

3. install​

   • Update .*proj and paket.lock files
   • Resolves the dependency graph for a solution
   • Only run after adding or removing a dependency

4. restore

   • ​​Downloads all declared dependencies

Some examples...

paket add

paket add Newtonsoft.JSON

paket remove

paket remove Newtonsoft.Json

paket install

paket install

paket restore

paket restore

• Nuget Versioning blog series by Dave Ebbo
• NuGet documentation at  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/nuget/what-is-nuget
• Paket documentation at https://fsprojects.github.io/Paket/index.html

Sources and Documentation