Are Umbraco and NuGet packages interchangeable?

Question

I'm building websites in Umbraco and they all use similar components and base templates. The obvious best practice is to create packages that install these things ready. But I can't tell how to do things like add project references in Umbraco, and I can't tell how to create document types (a database object) in NuGet.

I've not been able to find a good comparison of abilities - what one package can do that the other can't - to be able to choose one or the other types of package. Or will I have to use both types of packages for different jobs (I don't want to go down this route if I can help it, since some features may require both packages).

EDIT for clarification, hopefully this will help. I'm trying to ask a blanket question to find out whether it is possible to use only one packaging system, rather than two. I want to avoid installing 2 different packages to get something to work properly.

Can a NuGet package trigger an automatic install of an Umbraco package?

Can a NuGet package create Umbraco objects, like document types, etc?

Can an Umbraco package add assembly references to a project?

Answer 1

I'm not sure where you're trying to use NuGet in Umbraco, the Umbraco packaging system isn't NuGet based, it's entirely different to NuGet (caveat - the next version of Umbraco will use NuGet for packaging).

The Umbraco package system, as currently defined, is capable of deploying any file into your target project be that CSS, JavaScript, Templates, Assemblies, User Controls, etc, as well as data into your database (Document Types, Content, etc).