build2 | C/C++ Build Toolchain (original) (raw)

build2 is an open source (MIT), cross-platform build toolchain that aims to approximate Rust Cargo's convenience for developing and packaging C/C++ projects while providing more depth and flexibility, especially in the build system.

build2 is a hierarchy of tools consisting of a general-purpose build system, package manager (for package consumption), and project manager (for project development). While the ultimate goal is a universal build toolchain, the current focus is on C/C++ (which is the foundation of every software stack in use today) as well as mixed-language projects involving one of these languages (see bash and rust, for example).

Key features:

• Integrated build toolchain designed from first principles.
• Covers entire project lifecycle: creation, development, testing, and delivery.
• Aims to rebuild the entire C/C++ software ecosystem from the ground up.
• Uniform and consistent interface across all platforms and compilers.
• Fast, multi-threaded build system with parallel building and testing.
• First-class Windows support, including portable build recipes.
• Archive and version control-based package repositories.
• Dependency-free, all you need is a C++ compiler.

See also:

• What is build2?
• What is the end goal?
• Why not to use build2?
• How does build2 compare to other build systems (CMake, Bazel, etc)?
• How does build2 compare to other package managers (Conan, Vcpkg, etc)?

Starting a new project with build2 is as easy as:

$ bdep new -t exe -l c++ hello $ cd hello $ bdep init -C ../hello-gcc cc config.cxx=g++

Or to start hacking on an existing project (this time on Windows):

git clone ssh://example.org/hello.git cd hello bdep init -C ..\hello-msvc cc config.cxx=cl

To get started, see the Toolchain Introduction and Installation Instructions. Alternatively, if you prefer to watch and listen, the CppCon 2018 presentation provides a good overview. To learn more about the project see the Documentation page.