# Introduction

## What is Xmake?

Xmake is a lightweight, cross-platform build utility based on Lua. It uses a Lua script to maintain project builds, but is driven by a dependency-free core program written in C. Compared with Makefiles or CMake, the configuration syntax is much more concise and intuitive. As such, it's friendly to novices while still maintaining the flexibility required in a build system. With Xmake, you can focus on your project instead of the build system.

Xmake can be used to directly build source code (like with Make or Ninja), or it can generate project files like CMake or Meson. It also has a *built-in* package management system to help users integrate C/C++ dependencies.

If you want to know more, please refer to the [Documentation](/guide/quick-start.html), [GitHub](https://github.com/xmake-io/xmake), or [Gitee](https://gitee.com/tboox/xmake).
You are also welcome to join our [community](/about/contact.html).

![](/assets/img/index/xmake-basic-render.gif)
