native-maven-plugin-example

Simple example showing one possibility to use the Native Maven Plugin to build and deploy C++ static libraries (including header files) to a Maven repository and build and deploy C++ executables (having dependencies to deployed static libraries).

The project provides three Maven parent pom's.

A parent pom for the generic configuration of the Native Maven Plugin.
A parent pom with specific configurations for building static libraries.
A parent pom with specific configurations for building executables.

Additionally, two Maven archetypes are provided:

com.acme.archetype.cpp:staticLibrary:0.0.1-SNAPSHOT to easily create a project for a static library
com.acme.archetype.cpp:executable:0.0.1-SNAPSHOT to easily create a project for an executable

Usage

Install the parent pom's and the archetypes

Clone this repository.
Install the parent pom for the generic Native Maven Plugin configuration:
```
cd com.acme.mavenmaster.cpp
mvn install
```
Install the parent pom with specific configurations for building static libraries:
```
cd ../com.acme.mavenmaster.cpp.static
mvn install
```
Install the parent pom with specific configurations for building executables:
```
cd ../com.acme.mavenmaster.cpp.executable
mvn install
```

Install the archetype for static libraries

cd ../com.acme.archetype.cpp.staticLibrary
mvn install

Install the archetype for executables

cd ../com.acme.archetype.cpp.executables
mvn install

Create an exectuable project using the executable archetype

The executable archetype is a basic skeleton for a C++ project to build an executable (tested on Linux and OSX) using the created parent pom's. The archetype provides a main function which prints out "Hello, world!".

Create a new Maven project using the exectuable archetype

mvn archetype:generate -DarchetypeGroupId=com.acme.archetype.cpp -DarchetypeArtifactId=executable -DarchetypeVersion=0.0.1-SNAPSHOT -DgroupId=com.acme.app -DartifactId=HelloWord -Dversion=0.0.1-SNAPSHOT

Compile and execute the project:
```
cd HelloWord
mvn compile
```
You should find the executable in the target folder of your project. Try it out:
```
./target/HelloWord.uexe 
Hello, world!
```

Congratulations! You have just executed your first C++ program which was build using the Native Maven Plugin. ;)

Create a static library project using the static library archetype

The static library archetype is a basic skeleton for a C++ project to build a static library using the created parent pom's. The archetype provides a class HelloWorld.

Create a new Maven project using the static library archetype

mvn archetype:generate -DarchetypeGroupId=com.acme.archetype.cpp -DarchetypeArtifactId=staticLibrary -DarchetypeVersion=0.0.1-SNAPSHOT -DgroupId=com.acme.app -DartifactId=libGreetingsEarhtlings -Dversion=0.0.1-SNAPSHOT

Install the new static library to your local Maven repository:

cd libGreetingsEarhtlings
mvn install

You should find the static library (.a file) and a .inczip file (which contains the header provided by the static library) in you local Maven repository.

> ls -la ~/.m2/com/acme/app/libGreetingsEarthlings/0.0.1-SNAPSHOT/
total 64
drwxr-xr-x  7 stephan  staff    224  3 Okt 05:56 .
<drwxr-xr-x  4 stephan  staff    128  3 Okt 05:56 ..
-rw-r--r--  1 stephan  staff    274  3 Okt 05:56 _remote.repositories
-rw-r--r--  1 stephan  staff  16040  3 Okt 05:56 libGreetingsEarthlings-0.0.1-SNAPSHOT.a
-rw-r--r--  1 stephan  staff    266  3 Okt 05:56 libGreetingsEarthlings-0.0.1-SNAPSHOT.inczip
-rw-r--r--  1 stephan  staff    815  3 Okt 05:52 libGreetingsEarthlings-0.0.1-SNAPSHOT.pom
-rw-r--r--  1 stephan  staff    885  3 Okt 05:56 maven-metadata-local.xml

Congratulations! You have just deployed your first static library which was build using the Native Maven Plugin. ;) Now let's use that static library in our HelloWorld program.

Modify the HelloWorld project to use the deployed static library

Edit HelloWorld/pom.xml and add the following dependencies block (somewhere within the < project > tag):

<dependencies>
  <dependency>
    <groupId>com.acme.app</groupId>
    <artifactId>libGreetingsEarthlings</artifactId>
    <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
    <type>inczip</type>
    <scope>compile</scope>
  </dependency>
  <dependency>
    <groupId>com.acme.app</groupId>
    <artifactId>libGreetingsEarthlings</artifactId>
    <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
    <type>a</type>
    <scope>compile</scope>
  </dependency>
</dependencies>

Note: You need to add a dependency to both the .inczip file which contains the headers provided by the static library (needed for compilation) and to the .a file (needed for linking). Maybe there is some other way to fetch both dependencies by defining just one dependency block, but I don't know it.

Modify the main.cpp file of the HelloWorld project:

#include <iostream>
#include "HelloWorld.hpp"

int main() {
  std::cout << "Hello, world!" << std::endl;

  HelloWorld helloWorld;
  helloWorld.greet();
}

Compile and execute the project:

cd HelloWord
mvn compile
./target/HelloWord.uexe 
Hello, world!
Greetings, earthlings!