What is Carthage?

Carthage is another popular dependency manager for iOS and macOS development, offering a decentralized approach to dependency management. Unlike CocoaPods, which uses centralized repositories, Carthage builds frameworks from source code and links them directly into your Xcode projects. Here’s an overview of how Carthage works:

• Install Carthage: Install Carthage using Homebrew by running the following command in Terminal:

brew install carthage

• Create a Cartfile: Similar to CocoaPods, navigate to your project directory in Terminal and create a Cartfile by running:

bash


touch Cartfile

• Edit the Cartfile: Open the Cartfile using a text editor and specify the dependencies for your project. For example:

arduino


github "Alamofire/Alamofire"
github "SwiftyJSON/SwiftyJSON"

• Install Dependencies: Save the Cartfile and run the following command to fetch and build the dependencies:

sql


carthage update --platform iOS

• • Integrate Frameworks: Drag the built frameworks (located in the Carthage/Build/iOS directory) into your Xcode project’s “Frameworks, Libraries, and Embedded Content” section.

• • Configure Build Phases: In your Xcode project, navigate to the “Build Phases” tab of your target settings and add a “New Run Script Phase”. Enter the following script:

sql


/usr/local/bin/carthage copy-frameworks

• Input Paths: Under “Input Files”, add the paths to the built frameworks. For example:

shell


$(SRCROOT)/Carthage/Build/iOS/Alamofire.framework
$(SRCROOT)/Carthage/Build/iOS/SwiftyJSON.framework

Carthage provides a flexible and lightweight approach to managing dependencies in iOS projects, allowing developers to selectively integrate and build frameworks as needed without the overhead of a centralized repository.