xmake-docs/docs/examples/cpp/modules.md

Xmake uses .mpp as the default module extension, but also supports .ixx, .cppm, .mxx and other extensions.

At present, xmake has fully supported the C++20 Modules construction support of gcc11/clang/msvc, and can automatically analyze the dependencies between modules to maximize parallel compilation.

set_languages("c++20")
target("class")
    set_kind("binary")
    add_files("src/*.cpp", "src/*.mpp")

For more examples, see: C++ Modules

Cpp-only project

The v2.7.1 release has refactored and upgraded the C++20 module implementation to include support for Headerunits, which allows us to introduce Stl and user header modules into the module.

The relevant patch is available at: #2641.

Note: Normally we need to add at least one .mpp file to enable C++20 modules compilation, if we only have a cpp file, module compilation will not be enabled by default.

However, if we just want to use the module's Headerunits feature in the cpp file, e.g. by introducing some stl Headerunits into the cpp, then we can also set set_policy to .mpp. then we can also force C++ Modules compilation by setting set_policy("build.c++.modules", true), for example:

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

target("test")
    set_kind("binary")
    add_files("src/*.cpp")
    set_languages("c++20")
    set_policy("build.c++.modules", true)

C++ Module distribution

Many thanks to Arthapz for continuing to help improve xmake's support for C++ Modules in this new release.

We can now distribute C++ Modules as packages for quick integration and reuse in other projects.

This is a prototype implementation based on the draft design for module distribution in p2473r1.

Creating a C++ Modules package for distribution

We start by maintaining a build of the modules using xmake.lua and telling xmake which module files to install for external distribution by specifying `{install = true}''.

add_rules("mode.release", "mode.debug")
set_languages("c++20")

target("foo")
    set_kind("static")
    add_files("*.cpp")
    add_files("*.mpp", { install = true })

We then make it into a package that we can commit to the xmake-repo repository, or of course directly into a local package, or a private repository package.

Here, for testing purposes, we just make it a local package via set_sourcedir.

package("foo")
    set_sourcedir(path.join(os.scriptdir(), "src"))
    on_install(function(package)
        import("package.tools.xmake").install(package, {})
    end)
````

### Integrating the C++ Modules package

We then quickly integrate the C++ Modules package for use via the package integration interface with `add_requires("foo")`.

Since the modules packages for foo are defined in a private repository, we introduce our own package repository via `add_repositories("my-repo my-repo")`.

If the package has already been committed to the official xmake-repo repository, there is no need to configure it additionally.

lua add_rules("mode.release", "mode.debug") set_languages("c++20")

add_repositories("my-repo my-repo") add_requires("foo", "bar")

target("packages")

set_kind("binary")
add_files("src/*.cpp")
add_packages("foo", "bar")
set_policy("build.c++.modules", true)

Once the packages are integrated, we can run the `xmake` command to download, compile and integrate the C++ Modules package for use with one click.

bash $ xmake checking for platform ... linux checking for architecture ... x86_64 note: install or modify (m) these packages (pass -y to skip confirm)? in my-repo: -> foo latest -> bar latest please input: y (y/n/m)

=> install bar latest ... ok => install foo latest ... ok [ 0%]: generating.module.deps src/main.cpp [ 0%]: generating.module.deps /mnt/xmake/tests/projects/c++/modules/packages/build/.packages/b/bar/latest/ 4e0143c97b/modules/bar/bar.mpp [ 0%]: generating.module.deps /mnt/xmake/tests/projects/c++/modules/packages/build/.packages/f/foo/latest/ 4e0143c97b/modules/foo/foo.mpp [ 14%]: compiling.module.release bar [ 14%]: compiling.module.release foo [ 57%]: compiling.release src/main.cpp [ 71%]: linking.release packages [ 100%]: build ok!

Note: After each package is installed, a meta-info file for the maintenance module is stored in the package path, this is a format specification agreed in ``p2473r1.pdf``, it may not be the final standard, but this does not affect our ability to use the distribution of the module now.

bash $ cat . /build/.packages/f/f/foo/latest/4e0143c97b/modules/foo/foo.mpp.meta-info {"_VENDOR_extension":{"xmake":{"name": "foo", "file": "foo.mpp"}}, "definitions":{}, "include_paths":{}}

The full example project is available at: [C++ Modules package distribution example project](https://github.com/xmake-io/xmake/tree/master/tests/projects/c%2B%2B/modules/packages)

## Support for C++23 Std Modules

[Arthapz](https://github.com/Arthapz) has also helped to improve support for C++23 Std Modules.

It is currently supported by three compilers in progress.

### Msvc

The latest Visual Studio 17.5 preview already supports it, and the non-standard ifc std modules will be deprecated.

For the standard C++23 std modules, this is how we introduced them.

c import std;

Whereas for ifc std modules, we need to write it like this.

import std.core; ```

This is not a C++23 standard, it is only provided by msvc, it is not compatible with other compilers and will be deprecated in new versions of msvc. Therefore the new version of Xmake will only support C++23 std modules and not the deprecated ifc std modules.

Clang

It seems that the latest clang does not yet fully support C++23 std modules either, and is still in draft patch status, #D135507.

However, Xmake does support it, so if you want to try it out, you can merge in the patch and test it with xmake.

There is also experimental support for non-standard std modules in lower versions of clang.

It is still possible to experiment with xmake to build std modules in lower versions of clang, even though it is probably still a toy (and will encounter many problems).

For a discussion see: #3255

Gcc

It is not currently supported.