burnman_cpp

A C++ translation of BurnMan, with Python bindings.

Developers

C++ authors:

• Benedict Heinen
• Bob (Robert) Myhill

Python authors (as of 2025, from the BurnMan README):

• Bob (Robert) Myhill (main contributor)
• Sanne Cottaar
• Timo Heister
• Ian Rose
• Cayman Unterborn
• Benedict Heinen
• Robert Farla
• Juliane Dannberg
• Rene Gassmoeller

Installation

Published Python wheels

Using Python 3.10 or newer, install the published package into your chosen Python environment:

python -m pip install --upgrade pip
python -m pip install burnman_cpp

A virtual environment is optional. To use one, run these commands before installing:

python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate

Pip installs NumPy and SciPy automatically. Published wheels bundle the native libraries, so a compiler and native development packages are only needed when building from source. If no matching wheel is available, pip builds from source and needs the dependencies below.

Building from source

Native dependencies

Both the C++ library and Python source builds require:

• C and C++17 compiler toolchain, such as GCC or Clang: compiles the native library and, for Python builds, the extension module. CMake also checks for a C compiler when locating HDF5.
• CMake 3.18 or newer: configures the build, locates native dependencies and embeds the covariance datasets. The supplied Makefile also uses CMake for the data embedding step.
• Eigen 3.4 or newer: supplies matrix and vector operations, linear solvers and decompositions for compositions, reactions, solution models and fitting.
• GSL (GNU Scientific Library): provides root finding, numerical integration, special functions and splines for equations of state and radial planet profiles.
• NLopt, including its C++ header nlopt.hpp: performs constrained optimisation for relaxed solutions, fitting, thermobarometry and phase stability calculations.
• cddlib, including its GMP-backed library cddgmp: converts composition constraints into polytope vertices for solution and assemblage calculations.
• GMP (GNU Multiple Precision Arithmetic Library): provides the exact rational arithmetic used by cddlib and the polytope code to handle chemical composition constraints.
• HDF5 1.10 or newer, with its C development headers and gzip/deflate support: reads the embedded endmember energy covariance datasets for HP_2011_ds62, HGP_2018_ds633 and HPx_ds636. These data are embedded during the build and read in memory.

Additional tools depend on the build and checks you choose:

• Make: runs the supplied Makefile. CMake builds also need a build tool, such as Make or Ninja.
• pkg-config: lets the Makefile discover HDF5 compiler and linker flags. It is optional for CMake builds.
• Catch2 3.4 or newer: supplies the C++ unit test runner and performance benchmark framework. It is only required when building those targets.
• Git: downloads the source repository and the optional pinned Python BurnMan reference checkout.

Python dependencies

For the Python package, also install:

• Python 3.10 or newer, including its development headers: runs the package and lets the extension compile against Python.
• pip: builds and installs the Python package and its Python dependencies.

Pip installs these build and runtime dependencies automatically, as specified in pyproject.toml:

• scikit-build-core 0.11 or newer (build): connects pip's package build process to CMake and packages the compiled extension.
• pybind11 3.0 or newer (build): exposes the C++ classes and functions to Python, including conversions between Eigen matrices and NumPy arrays.
• NumPy 1.23 or newer (runtime): provides arrays for compositions, material properties, covariance matrices and thermodynamic grids.
• SciPy 1.9 or newer (runtime): provides interpolation, sparse matrices, optimisation and smoothing for potential grids and ASPECT table exports.

Optional Python dependencies are installed through extras:

• pytest 7 or newer (test): runs the Python test suite.
• Matplotlib 3.6 or newer (examples): plots examples, phase diagrams and diagnostic figures; it is also needed by the plotting tests.
• Python BurnMan 2.1 or newer (reference): enables adapters and comparisons with the original implementation. The reference tests below use a specific Git commit for reproducibility.
• h5py 3.8 or newer (reference): exports and checks the HDF5 covariance source files. Ordinary builds and covariance access use native HDF5 directly.

Install system dependencies

On Ubuntu 24.04, install the native dependencies and Python development tools:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y build-essential cmake git pkg-config \
  python3-dev python3-pip python3-venv \
  libeigen3-dev libgsl-dev libnlopt-cxx-dev libcdd-dev libgmp-dev libhdf5-dev

For C++ tests and benchmarks, also install Catch2:

sudo apt-get install -y catch2

On macOS, install the Xcode command-line tools if needed, then install the dependencies with Homebrew:

xcode-select --install
brew install python cmake pkg-config eigen gsl nlopt cddlib gmp hdf5

For C++ tests and benchmarks, also install Catch2:

brew install catch2

Build and install the Python package

Clone the repository, then use your chosen Python environment:

git clone https://github.com/bobmyhill/burnman_cpp.git
cd burnman_cpp
python -m pip install --upgrade pip

Build and install from source:

CMAKE_BUILD_PARALLEL_LEVEL=2 python -m pip install .
python -c "import burnman_cpp"

Pip installs the Python dependencies and builds the C++ extension. The native dependencies listed above must already be installed. Re-run the installation after changing the C++ or Python sources. Adjust CMAKE_BUILD_PARALLEL_LEVEL to suit the memory available on your machine.

C++ library

Run build and test commands from the repository root. To build the static library without Python bindings:

cmake -S . -B build/native \
  -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
  -DBURNMAN_BUILD_PYTHON=OFF
cmake --build build/native --parallel 2

The library is written to build/native/libburnman_core.a. For dependencies in a nonstandard location, add -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=/path/to/prefix when configuring.

Alternatively, the Makefile builds bin/libburnman.a:

make -j<N>

Replace <N> with the number of parallel build jobs, for example make -j4.

Tests

Python tests

Install the test and plotting dependencies and run the suite:

CMAKE_BUILD_PARALLEL_LEVEL=2 python -m pip install '.[test,examples]'
MPLBACKEND=Agg python -m pytest -q -ra python/tests

The plotting dependencies are needed by the tests; MPLBACKEND=Agg lets them run without a display. Comparisons with Python BurnMan are skipped when that optional reference package is absent.

C++ tests

cmake -S . -B build/native \
  -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
  -DBURNMAN_BUILD_PYTHON=OFF \
  -DBURNMAN_BUILD_TESTS=ON \
  -DBURNMAN_WARNINGS_AS_ERRORS=ON
cmake --build build/native --parallel 2
ctest --test-dir build/native --output-on-failure

With Make, build and run the tests separately:

make -j<N> test WARNINGS_AS_ERRORS=1
./bin/run_tests

Make also accepts an optional BUILD_MODE argument. Available modes:

• BUILD_MODE=release (default): enables compiler optimisation for faster execution (-O3 -DNDEBUG).
• BUILD_MODE=debug: keeps source-line and variable information for a debugger and uses less optimisation, making it easier to follow the program's execution.
• BUILD_MODE=test: adds runtime checks for memory errors, such as reading outside an array, and undefined C++ behaviour. These checks help identify bugs but make the program slower.

Debug and test builds use separate outputs, such as bin/run_tests_debug and bin/run_tests_test. Use CXX, EXTRA_INCLUDE and EXTRA_LIB to override the compiler and dependency paths. If HDF5 is outside pkg-config's search path, set PKG_CONFIG_PATH to the directory containing hdf5.pc, or pass HDF5_CFLAGS and HDF5_LIBS explicitly to Make.

Optional Python BurnMan reference comparisons

The reference version is recorded in tests/reference/burnman.json. The tests require that exact commit in a clean Git checkout. To enable the comparisons used by GitHub CI:

git clone https://github.com/geodynamics/burnman.git build/python-burnman-reference
git -C build/python-burnman-reference checkout b7c54ccf7bfd8583158c6dffe210c004b9570f4d
python -m pip install -e 'build/python-burnman-reference[dev]'
export PYTHONPATH="$PWD/build/python-burnman-reference"
export PYTHONDONTWRITEBYTECODE=1
MPLBACKEND=Agg python -m pytest -q -ra python/tests

Formatting

Install the same formatter versions used by GitHub CI:

• clang-format: formats C++ sources and headers.
• Black: formats Python sources.

python -m pip install -r contrib/utilities/requirements-format.txt

Check formatting without changing files:

./contrib/utilities/indent.sh --check --tracked

Run ./contrib/utilities/indent.sh to format C++, headers and Python files, including untracked sources outside ignored directories. Use --tracked to restrict formatting to tracked files. The script can be called from any working directory.

Benchmarks

Build, run and report performance benchmarks using the instructions in benchmarks/README.md.

The Python reporting tools use NumPy and Matplotlib, plus:

• pandas 1.5 or newer: processes timing tables and CSV reports.

Install the reporting dependencies with python -m pip install -r benchmarks/requirements.txt.

License

burnman_cpp is licensed under GPL-3.0-or-later.