xmake

A cross-platform build utility based on Lua
Modern C/C++ build tool: Simple, Fast, Powerful dependency package integration

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Handling Issues with higher priority
One-to-one technical consulting service
Review your xmake.lua and provide suggestions for improvement

Introduction (中文)

Xmake is a lightweight, cross-platform build utility based on Lua.

It is very lightweight and has no dependencies due to the integration of the Lua runtime.

It uses xmake.lua to maintain project builds with a very simple and readable syntax.

We can use it to build projects directly like Make/Ninja or generate project files like CMake/Meson. It also has a built-in package management system to help users integrate C/C++ dependencies.

Xmake = Build backend + Project Generator + Package Manager + [Remote|Distributed] Build + Cache

Although not very precise, we can still understand Xmake in the following way:

Xmake ≈ Make/Ninja + CMake/Meson + Vcpkg/Conan + distcc + ccache/sccache

If you want to know more, please refer to: Documents, Github and Gitee. You are also welcome to join our community.

Installation

via curl

curl -fsSL https://xmake.io/shget.text | bash

via wget

wget https://xmake.io/shget.text -O - | bash

via powershell

Invoke-Expression (Invoke-Webrequest 'https://xmake.io/psget.text' -UseBasicParsing).Content

Other installation methods

If you don't want to use the script to install xmake, see Installation Guide for other installation methods.

Simple description

target("hello")
    set_kind("binary")
    add_files("src/*.cpp")

Package dependences

add_requires("tbox 1.6.*", "zlib", "libpng ~1.6")

An official xmake package repository exists at: xmake-repo

Create project

$ xmake create hello
$ cd hello

Build project

$ xmake

Run target

$ xmake run console

Debug target

$ xmake run -d console

Configure platform

$ xmake f -p [windows|linux|macosx|android|iphoneos ..] -a [x86|arm64 ..] -m [debug|release]
$ xmake

Menu configuration

$ xmake f --menu

Build as fast as ninja

The test project: xmake-core

Multi-task parallel compilation

buildsystem	Termux (8core/-j12)	buildsystem	MacOS (8core/-j12)
xmake	24.890s	xmake	12.264s
ninja	25.682s	ninja	11.327s
cmake(gen+make)	5.416s+28.473s	cmake(gen+make)	1.203s+14.030s
cmake(gen+ninja)	4.458s+24.842s	cmake(gen+ninja)	0.988s+11.644s

Single task compilation

buildsystem	Termux (-j1)	buildsystem	MacOS (-j1)
xmake	1m57.707s	xmake	39.937s
ninja	1m52.845s	ninja	38.995s
cmake(gen+make)	5.416s+2m10.539s	cmake(gen+make)	1.203s+41.737s
cmake(gen+ninja)	4.458s+1m54.868s	cmake(gen+ninja)	0.988s+38.022s

Package management

Processing architecture

Supported package repositories

Official package repository xmake-repo (tbox >1.6.1)
Official package manager Xrepo
User-built repositories
Conan (conan::openssl/1.1.1g)
Conda (conda::libpng 1.3.67)
Vcpkg (vcpkg::ffmpeg)
Homebrew/Linuxbrew (brew::pcre2/libpcre2-8)
Pacman on archlinux/msys2 (pacman::libcurl)
Apt on ubuntu/debian (apt::zlib1g-dev)
Clib (clib::clibs/bytes@0.0.4)
Dub (dub::log 0.4.3)
Portage on Gentoo/Linux (portage::libhandy)
Nimble for nimlang (nimble::zip >1.3)
Cargo for rust (cargo::base64 0.13.0)

Package management features

The official repository provides nearly 800+ packages with one-click compilation on all platforms
Full platform package support, support for cross-compiled dependent packages
Support package virtual environment using xrepo env shell
Precompiled package acceleration for Windows
Support self-built package repositories and private repository deployment
Third-party package repository support for repositories such as: vcpkg, conan, conda, etc.
Supports automatic pulling of remote toolchains
Supports dependency version locking

Supported platforms

Windows (x86, x64)
macOS (i386, x86_64, arm64)
Linux (i386, x86_64, cross-toolchains ..)
*BSD (i386, x86_64)
Android (x86, x86_64, armeabi, armeabi-v7a, arm64-v8a)
iOS (armv7, armv7s, arm64, i386, x86_64)
WatchOS (armv7k, i386)
AppleTVOS (armv7, arm64, i386, x86_64)
MSYS (i386, x86_64)
MinGW (i386, x86_64, arm, arm64)
Cygwin (i386, x86_64)
Wasm (wasm32)
Haiku (i386, x86_64)
Cross (cross-toolchains ..)

Supported toolchains

$ xmake show -l toolchains
xcode         Xcode IDE
msvc          Microsoft Visual C/C++ Compiler
clang-cl      LLVM Clang C/C++ Compiler compatible with msvc
yasm          The Yasm Modular Assembler
clang         A C language family frontend for LLVM
go            Go Programming Language Compiler
dlang         D Programming Language Compiler (Auto)
dmd           D Programming Language Compiler
ldc           The LLVM-based D Compiler
gdc           The GNU D Compiler (GDC)
gfortran      GNU Fortran Programming Language Compiler
zig           Zig Programming Language Compiler
sdcc          Small Device C Compiler
cuda          CUDA Toolkit (nvcc, nvc, nvc++, nvfortran)
ndk           Android NDK
rust          Rust Programming Language Compiler
swift         Swift Programming Language Compiler
llvm          A collection of modular and reusable compiler and toolchain technologies
cross         Common cross compilation toolchain
nasm          NASM Assembler
gcc           GNU Compiler Collection
mingw         Minimalist GNU for Windows
gnu-rm        GNU Arm Embedded Toolchain
envs          Environment variables toolchain
fasm          Flat Assembler
tinycc        Tiny C Compiler
emcc          A toolchain for compiling to asm.js and WebAssembly
icc           Intel C/C++ Compiler
ifort         Intel Fortran Compiler
muslcc        The musl-based cross-compilation toolchain
fpc           Free Pascal Programming Language Compiler
wasi          WASI-enabled WebAssembly C/C++ toolchain
nim           Nim Programming Language Compiler
circle        A new C++20 compiler
armcc         ARM Compiler Version 5 of Keil MDK
armclang      ARM Compiler Version 6 of Keil MDK
c51           Keil development tools for the 8051 Microcontroller Architecture
icx           Intel LLVM C/C++ Compiler
dpcpp         Intel LLVM C++ Compiler for data parallel programming model based on Khronos SYCL
masm32        The MASM32 SDK
iverilog      Icarus Verilog
verilator     Verilator open-source SystemVerilog simulator and lint system

Supported Languages

C
C++
Objective-C and Objective-C++
Swift
Assembly
Golang
Rust
Dlang
Fortran
Cuda
Zig
Vala
Pascal
Nim
Verilog

Supported Features

The configuration grammar is simple and easy to use
Quick, dependency-free installation
One-click compilation for all platforms
Supports cross compilation with intelligent analysis of cross toolchain information
Extremely fast parallel compilation support
C++20 module support
Supports cross-platform C/C++ dependencies with built-in package manager
Multi-language compilation support including mixed-language projects.
Rich plug-in support with various project generators (ex. vs/makefile/cmakelists/compile_commands)
REPL interactive execution support
Incremental compilation support with automatic analysis of header files
Quick toolchain management
A large number of expansion modules
Remote compilation support
Distributed compilation support
Local and remote build cache support

Supported Projects

Static library
Shared library
Console
Cuda program
Qt application
WDK driver (umdf/kmdf/wdm)
WinSDK application
MFC application
iOS/MacOS application (support .metal)
Framework and bundle program (iOS/MacOS)
SWIG/Pybind11 modules (lua, python, ...)
Luarocks modules
Protobuf program
Lex/yacc Program
C++20 modules
Linux kernel driver modules
Keil MDK/C51 embed program
Verilog simulator program

Distributed Compilation

Cross-platform support
Support for msvc, clang, gcc and cross-compilation toolchain
Support for building android, ios, linux, win, macOS programs
No dependencies other than the compilation toolchain
Support for build server load balancing scheduling
Support for real time compressed transfer of large files (lz4)
Almost zero configuration cost, no shared filesystem required, more convenience and security

About distributed compilation and build cache, you can see:

Remote Compilation

For more details see: Remote Compilation

More Examples

Debug and release profiles

add_rules("mode.debug", "mode.release")

target("console")
    set_kind("binary")
    add_files("src/*.c")
    if is_mode("debug") then
        add_defines("DEBUG")
    end

Custom scripts

target("test")
    set_kind("binary")
    add_files("src/*.c")
    after_build(function (target)
        print("hello: %s", target:name())
        os.exec("echo %s", target:targetfile())
    end)

Automatic integration of dependent packages

Download and use packages in xmake-repo or third-party repositories:

add_requires("tbox >1.6.1", "libuv master", "vcpkg::ffmpeg", "brew::pcre2/libpcre2-8")
add_requires("conan::openssl/1.1.1g", {alias = "openssl", optional = true, debug = true})
target("test")
    set_kind("binary")
    add_files("src/*.c")
    add_packages("tbox", "libuv", "vcpkg::ffmpeg", "brew::pcre2/libpcre2-8", "openssl")

In addition, we can also use the xrepo command to quickly install dependencies.

Qt QuickApp Program

target("test")
    add_rules("qt.quickapp")
    add_files("src/*.cpp")
    add_files("src/qml.qrc")

Cuda Program

target("test")
    set_kind("binary")
    add_files("src/*.cu")
    add_cugencodes("native")
    add_cugencodes("compute_35")

WDK/UMDF Driver Program

target("echo")
    add_rules("wdk.driver", "wdk.env.umdf")
    add_files("driver/*.c")
    add_files("driver/*.inx")
    add_includedirs("exe")

target("app")
    add_rules("wdk.binary", "wdk.env.umdf")
    add_files("exe/*.cpp")

More wdk driver program examples exist (umdf/kmdf/wdm), please see WDK Program Examples

iOS/MacOS Application

target("test")
    add_rules("xcode.application")
    add_files("src/*.m", "src/**.storyboard", "src/*.xcassets")
    add_files("src/Info.plist")

Framework and Bundle Program (iOS/MacOS)

target("test")
    add_rules("xcode.framework") -- or xcode.bundle
    add_files("src/*.m")
    add_files("src/Info.plist")

OpenMP Program

add_requires("libomp", {optional = true})
target("loop")
    set_kind("binary")
    add_files("src/*.cpp")
    add_rules("c++.openmp")
    add_packages("libomp")

Zig Program

target("test")
    set_kind("binary")
    add_files("src/main.zig")

Automatically fetch remote toolchain

fetch a special version of llvm

We use Clang in llvm-10 to compile the project.

add_requires("llvm 10.x", {alias = "llvm-10"})
target("test")
    set_kind("binary")
    add_files("src/*.c")
    set_toolchains("llvm@llvm-10")

Fetch cross-compilation toolchain

We can also pull a specified cross-compilation toolchain to compile the project.

add_requires("muslcc")
target("test")
    set_kind("binary")
    add_files("src/*.c")
    set_toolchains("@muslcc")

Fetch toolchain and packages

We can also use the specified muslcc cross-compilation toolchain to compile and integrate all dependent packages

add_requires("muslcc")
add_requires("zlib", "libogg", {system = false})

set_toolchains("@muslcc")

target("test")
    set_kind("binary")
    add_files("src/*.c")
    add_packages("zlib", "libogg")

Plugins

Generate IDE project file plugin（makefile, vs2002 - vs2022 .. ）

$ xmake project -k vsxmake -m "debug,release" # New vsproj generator (Recommended)
$ xmake project -k vs -m "debug,release"
$ xmake project -k cmake
$ xmake project -k ninja
$ xmake project -k compile_commands

Run a custom lua script plugin

$ xmake l ./test.lua
$ xmake l -c "print('hello xmake!')"
$ xmake l lib.detect.find_tool gcc
$ xmake l
> print("hello xmake!")
> {1, 2, 3}
< {
    1,
    2,
    3
  }

More builtin plugins exist, please see: Builtin plugins

Please download and install other plugins from the plugins repository xmake-plugins.

IDE/Editor Integration

xmake-vscode

xmake-sublime

xmake-idea

xmake.vim (third-party, thanks @luzhlon)
xmake-visualstudio (third-party, thanks @HelloWorld886)
xmake-qtcreator (third-party, thanks @Arthapz)

XMake Gradle Plugin (JNI)

We can use the xmake-gradle plugin to compile JNI libraries via gradle.

plugins {
  id 'org.tboox.gradle-xmake-plugin' version '1.1.5'
}

android {
    externalNativeBuild {
        xmake {
            path "jni/xmake.lua"
        }
    }
}

The xmakeBuild task will be injected into the assemble task automatically if the gradle-xmake-plugin has been applied.

$ ./gradlew app:assembleDebug
> Task :nativelib:xmakeConfigureForArm64
> Task :nativelib:xmakeBuildForArm64
>> xmake build
[ 50%]: ccache compiling.debug nativelib.cc
[ 75%]: linking.debug libnativelib.so
[100%]: build ok!
>> install artifacts to /Users/ruki/projects/personal/xmake-gradle/nativelib/libs/arm64-v8a
> Task :nativelib:xmakeConfigureForArmv7
> Task :nativelib:xmakeBuildForArmv7
>> xmake build
[ 50%]: ccache compiling.debug nativelib.cc
[ 75%]: linking.debug libnativelib.so
[100%]: build ok!
>> install artifacts to /Users/ruki/projects/personal/xmake-gradle/nativelib/libs/armeabi-v7a
> Task :nativelib:preBuild
> Task :nativelib:assemble
> Task :app:assembleDebug

CI Integration

GitHub Action

We can use github-action-setup-xmake to setup Xmake in Github Actions.

uses: xmake-io/github-action-setup-xmake@v1
with:
  xmake-version: latest

Who is using Xmake?

The user list is available here

If you are using xmake, you are welcome to submit your information to the above list through a PR, so that others can know how many users are using it.

This also let users use xmake more confidently and give us motivation to continue to maintain it. This will help the xmake project and it's community to grow stronger.

Contacts

Email：waruqi@gmail.com
Homepage：xmake.io
Community
- Chat on reddit
- Chat on telegram
- Chat on discord
- Chat on QQ Group: 343118190, 662147501
Source Code：Github, Gitee
Wechat Public: tboox-os

Thanks

This project exists thanks to all the people who have contributed:

TitanSnow: provide the xmake logo and install scripts
uael: provide the semantic versioning library sv
OpportunityLiu: improve cuda, tests and ci
xq144: Improve xrepo env shell, and contribute a lot of packages to the xmake-repo repository.
enderger: Helped smooth out the edges on the English translation of the README

Cliear/Fork-BuildTool-xmake