xmake-docs

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Technical Support

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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

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

bash <(curl -fsSL https://xmake.io/shget.text)

via wget

bash <(wget https://xmake.io/shget.text -O -)

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

Package dependences

An official xmake package repository exists at: xmake-repo

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

Download and build

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/[email protected])
• 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 500+ 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)
• Cross (cross-toolchains ..)

Supported toolchains

$ xmake show -l toolchains
xcode         Xcode IDE
msvc          Microsoft Visual C/C++ Compiler
yasm          The Yasm Modular Assembler
clang         A C language family frontend for LLVM
go            Go Programming Language Compiler
dlang         D Programming Language Compiler
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

Supported Languages

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

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 Modules (Lua, python, ...)
• Luarocks Modules
• Protobuf Program
• Lex/yacc program
• C++20 Modules
• Linux Kernel Driver Modules

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

For more details see: #274

Remote Compilation

For more details see: #622

Local/Remote Build Cache

For more details see: #622

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.

lua 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

lua 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 .. ）

bash $ 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

bash $ 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](https://xmake.io/#/plugin/builtin_plugins)

Please download and install other plugins from the plugins repository [xmake-plugins](https://github.com/xmake-io/xmake-plugins).

## IDE/Editor Integration

* [xmake-vscode](https://github.com/xmake-io/xmake-vscode)

<img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/xmake-io/xmake-vscode/master/res/problem.gif" width="650px" />

* [xmake-sublime](https://github.com/xmake-io/xmake-sublime)

<img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/xmake-io/xmake-sublime/master/res/problem.gif" width="650px" />

* [xmake-idea](https://github.com/xmake-io/xmake-idea)

<img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/xmake-io/xmake-idea/master/res/problem.gif" width="650px" />

* [xmake.vim](https://github.com/luzhlon/xmake.vim) (third-party, thanks [@luzhlon](https://github.com/luzhlon))

* [xmake-visualstudio](https://github.com/HelloWorld886/xmake-visualstudio) (third-party, thanks [@HelloWorld886](https://github.com/HelloWorld886))

* [xmake-qtcreator](https://github.com/Arthapz/xmake-project-manager) (third-party, thanks [@Arthapz](https://github.com/Arthapz))

### XMake Gradle Plugin (JNI)

We can use the [xmake-gradle](https://github.com/xmake-io/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.

console $ ./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](https://github.com/xmake-io/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.

Ihis also let users to 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：[email protected]
• Homepage：xmake.io
• Community
  • Chat on reddit
  • Chat on telegram
  • Chat on gitter
  • 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