Carthage is a decentralized dependency manager for Cocoa projects and an automation tool for Xcode builds. It functions as a Git-based framework manager and binary distribution tool used to fetch, build, and manage external libraries.
The project distinguishes itself by supporting the production and distribution of platform-independent binary frameworks and static libraries. It utilizes Git tags and submodules to lock specific versions of external libraries and provides mechanisms to distribute prebuilt binaries via zipped release archives.
The system covers dependency resolution and version locking to ensure environment consistency. It includes capabilities for source-based local compilation, build artifact caching to reduce redundant compilation times, and integration with continuous delivery pipelines for automated binary uploads.