What is conan?

Conan is an open‑source package manager for C and C++ projects. It lets developers share, download, and reuse compiled libraries (called “packages”) so they don’t have to build every dependency from source each time.

Let's break it down

  • Package: A pre‑built library (e.g., Boost, OpenSSL) bundled with metadata about its version, settings, and dependencies.
  • Recipe: A small script (conanfile.py) that tells Conan how to fetch, build, and package a library.
  • Remote: An online server (like conan.io) where packages are stored and can be searched.
  • Cache: A local folder on your machine where Conan keeps downloaded packages for fast reuse.
  • Profile: A set of build options (compiler, version, architecture, etc.) that tells Conan how to compile a package for your environment.

Why does it matter?

C/C++ projects often rely on many third‑party libraries, each with its own build steps and compiler requirements. Conan automates this process, reducing “it works on my machine” problems, speeding up builds, and making it easier to keep dependencies up to date and reproducible across teams.

Where is it used?

  • Large C/C++ codebases in industries like automotive, aerospace, gaming, and finance.
  • Open‑source projects that need to distribute binary wheels for multiple platforms.
  • Companies that adopt continuous integration pipelines to automatically fetch and build dependencies.
  • Any developer who wants a simple, cross‑platform way to manage C/C++ libraries without writing custom build scripts.

Good things about it

  • Works on Windows, macOS, and Linux - truly cross‑platform.
  • Supports both binary packages (pre‑compiled) and source packages (built on the fly).
  • Integrates with popular build systems such as CMake, Meson, and Make.
  • Flexible: you can host your own private remote for internal libraries.
  • Strong community and many ready‑made packages available on the public Conan Center Index.

Not-so-good things

  • Learning curve: beginners need to understand recipes, profiles, and the Conan command line.
  • Requires extra tooling; projects that already use other package managers (e.g., vcpkg, Hunter) may face duplication.
  • Binary compatibility can be tricky; mismatched compiler versions or settings may cause package conflicts.
  • Large projects may need to manage many Conan files, which can add maintenance overhead.