User:Maffblaster/Drafts/Comparison of build systems
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This article provides a brief comparison of various build systems.
Basic information
| Description | Autotools | CMake | SCons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Works without install | Partially (unless build system files are modified) | No | No |
| Requirements (for build) | shell, make | CMake (installed), make | SCons (installed) |
| Requirements (for the tool itself) | perl | C++, libarchive, curl, expat | Python 2 (3.x not supported) |
| Build system file format | shell + m4, make with extensions | Custom | Python scripts |
Common features
| Description | Autotools | CMake | SCons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Respecting build environment (CC, CFLAGS, LDFLAGS...) | Yes | Yes | When supported by the package |
| Respecting install paths (bindir, libdir...) | Yes | When supported by the package | When supported by the package |
| Straightforward (template) install for packages without libraries | Yes | Yes | No |
| Straightforward (template) install for packages with libraries | Yes | No | No |
| Ability to build libraries | Yes | Yes | Without SONAMEs |
| Separated configuration from build | Yes | Yes | No |
| Parallel build support | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Configuration cache support | Yes | No | Yes |
| Ability to build source packages | Yes | When supported by the package via CPack | When supported by the package |
| Ability to build binary packages | No | When supported by the package via CPack | When supported by the package |
| Support for out-of-source builds | Yes | Yes | When supported by the package |
| Modifying build system files without reconf | No | Yes | Yes |
Note
When supported by the package usually means that the build system provides methods to solve the problem but requires users to explicitly use/enable/alias them in their build system files.
When supported by the package usually means that the build system provides methods to solve the problem but requires users to explicitly use/enable/alias them in their build system files.
See also
- Build automation — software that automates the compilation, clean up, and installation stages of the software creation process.