cja 0.1.0

A CMake reimplementation in Python with Ninja generator

cja

A CMake reimplementation in Python that generates Ninja build files.

Usage

# Configure in current directory
cja

# Specify build directory
cja -B build-release

# Set CMake variables
cja -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cja -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug -DENABLE_TESTS=ON

After configuration, build with Ninja:

ninja

Build Subcommand

cja supports a build subcommand that works similar to cargo:

cja build

Equivalent to calling:

cja -Bbuild
ninja

cja build --release

Equivalent to calling:

cja -Bbuild-release -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
ninja -f build-release.ninja

Test Subcommand

cja test

Equivalent to calling:

cja build
ninja -f build.ninja test

cja test --release

Equivalent to calling:

cja build --release
ninja -f build-release.ninja test

Run Subcommand

cja generates a "run" phony target which executes the first executable (or the one set via VS_STARTUP_PROJECT) in your CMakeLists.txt.

cja run

Equivalent to calling:

cja build
ninja -f build.ninja run

cja run --release

Equivalent to calling:

cja build --release
ninja -f build-release.ninja run

Supported CMake Commands

Project Structure

• cmake_minimum_required(VERSION x.y)
• project(name)
• add_executable(name sources...)
• add_library(name [STATIC|SHARED|OBJECT] sources...)
• add_subdirectory(dir)
• install(TARGETS targets... [DESTINATION dir]) (defaults to $HOME/.local/bin for TARGETS)

Variables

• set(VAR value...)
• set(VAR value CACHE TYPE "doc" [FORCE])
• option(VAR "description" [ON|OFF])

Control Flow

• if() / elseif() / else() / endif()
• foreach() / endforeach() (with RANGE, IN LISTS, IN ITEMS)

Target Properties

• target_link_libraries(target [PUBLIC|PRIVATE|INTERFACE] libs...)
• target_sources(target [PUBLIC|PRIVATE|INTERFACE] sources...)
• target_compile_features(target [PUBLIC|PRIVATE|INTERFACE] features...)
• target_compile_definitions(target [PUBLIC|PRIVATE|INTERFACE] defs...)
• target_include_directories(target [PUBLIC|PRIVATE|INTERFACE] [SYSTEM] dirs...)
• set_source_files_properties(files... PROPERTIES prop value...) (supports OBJECT_DEPENDS, INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES, COMPILE_DEFINITIONS)

Finding Dependencies

• find_program(VAR name [NAMES ...] [REQUIRED])
• find_package(name [REQUIRED]) - supports GTest and Threads via pkg-config

Testing

• add_test(NAME name COMMAND cmd args...) or add_test(name cmd args...)
• include(CTest) - adds a test target (or use include(module) for other modules)

Other

• message([STATUS|WARNING|FATAL_ERROR] "text")
• add_compile_definitions(defs...)
• add_compile_options(options...)
• add_custom_command(OUTPUT ... COMMAND ... DEPENDS ...)

Build Types

Set CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE to control optimization:

Build Type	Flags
Debug	-g -O0
Release	-O3 -DNDEBUG
RelWithDebInfo	-O2 -g -DNDEBUG
MinSizeRel	-Os -DNDEBUG

Example

CMakeLists.txt:

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.10)
project(myapp)

add_executable(myapp main.cpp)
target_compile_features(myapp PUBLIC cxx_std_17)

Build:

cja -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
ninja
./build/myapp

Limitations

• Only supports Ninja generator (by design)
• Limited find_package support (GTest, Threads via pkg-config)
• No generator expressions