r3make 2025.1.4

A command-line build tool for C without the bloat of CMake.

r3make

r3make is a lightweight and straightforward command-line build tool for C projects. It simplifies the compilation process without the complexity of tools like CMake, making it perfect for small to medium-sized projects with minimal dependencies.

Features

• Simple JSON Configuration: Define project settings in a JSON-based .r3make file.
• Compiler Support: Currently supports MinGW GCC, with plans to support Emscripten, Clang, MSVC, and more.
• Automatic Source Management: Collects .c files from specified directories for compilation.
• Flexible Target Output: Build executables (.exe), shared libraries (.dll/.so/.dylib), and soon static libraries (.a/.lib).
• Cross-Platform Design: While currently built and maintained on Windows, future updates aim to support Linux and MacOS.

Installation

Install via PyPI:

pip install r3make

Getting Started

Step 1. Create a .r3make Configuration File

The .r3make file uses JSON to specify project settings. Here's an example configuration:

{
    "r3make": {
        "pre-build": {},
        "post-build": {}
    },
    "c-instance": "GCC",
    "c-flags": [],
    "c-defines": [],
    "src-dirs": [],
    "src-files": [],
    "inc-dirs": [],
    "lib-links": {},
    "out-dir": "bin",
    "out-type": "exe",
    "out-name": "program",
}

• (Optional) r3make: Dictionary of pre and post r3make commands for this build.
• c-instance: Compiler to use (currently supported: GCC, CLANG, EMCC).
• (Optional) c-flags: List of compiler flags to be used during this build.
• (Optional) c-deines: List of project directives to be defined by the pre-processor.
• inc-dirs: List of directories to search for header files.
• src-dirs: Directories containing source files.
• (Optional) src-files: A list containing string paths to source files.
• (Optional) lib-links: Key-value pairs of libraries to link. Value is optional for default system paths.
• out-dir: Directory for generated output.
• out-type: Type of output file (exe, dll, a, etc.).
• out-name: Name of the output file (without extension).

Step 2. Build Your Project

Run the following command, specifying your .r3make configuration file:

r3make myproject.r3make

This will compile and link your project, placing the output in the specified out-dir.

Example Usage

Given the following directory structure:

MyProject/
src/
   /main.c
   /utils.c
include/
       /utils.h
myproject.r3make

A .r3make configuration would look like this:

{
    "c-instance": "GCC",
    "src-dirs": ["src"],
    "inc-dirs": ["include"],
    "out-dir": "bin",
    "out-type": "exe",
    "out-name": "MyProject",
}

This configuration will:

1. Compile main.c and utils.c into object files.
2. Link them into an executable called MyProject.exe in the bin directory.

Note: r3make will create and store object files at config[out-dir]\\ofiles. This directory can be safely removed after a build has completed either manually or with the nofiles post-build command.

Automating Dependency Fetching With r3make

r3make supports a configuration field named after the tool r3make. This field is used to invoke r3make pre-build and post-build commands, thus these are the field names of the r3make fields.

A Valid r3make field might look like this:

{
   ...
   "r3make": {
      "pre-build": {
         "command1": null,
         "command2": "path/to/some/asset",
      },
      "post-build": {
         "command5": [1, 2, 3],
      }
   }
}

As you can see, r3make commands may be passed parameters of different types, so make sure you research the command you are using, and the parameters expected!

Note: all r3make commands take both the calling configuration along with the value attached to the command field.

How does this help further automate a build?

Well r3make has the ability to clone and build dependencies from Github, and making a project available to the CLI is as simple as the following:

In the root of your project's repository, create a directory named .r3make.

Next simply add your project's .r3make configuration into this directory.

Commit and push the changes, and thats it!

How about fetching these dependencies as the end-user?

Thats simple too, just add the remote-hosted dependency to your project's .r3make configuration like so:

{
   ...
   "lib-links": {
      "somelib": null
   }
}

Note: For fetched dependencies its advised to set the path to the dependency as null for your lib-links field as it will be cloned to and built in an OS default library path. (The compiler/CLI will be able to find it.)

After that, just add the gitdeps command to your r3make: pre-build field! The gitdeps command expects a list of strings as a parameter. These strings should be the author/dep of your dependency.

Following the above should yield these fields:

{
   ...
   "r3make": {
      "pre-build": {
         "gitdeps": ["someguy/somelib"],
      }
   }
}

Now your all set, and ready to build!

Note: The gitdeps command clones dependencies into a default library path based on your operating system. This command may fail if your OS requires admin privilages to read/write to this directory!

Why r3make?

While tools like CMake are powerful, they can be overly complex for straightforward tasks. r3make focuses on simplicity and ease of use, letting you focus on writing code rather than managing build configurations.

r3make's Wishlist

1. Improved Error Handling:

   • Provide more descriptive errors when builds fail.
   • Catch common misconfigurations in the .r3make file.

2. Incremental Builds:

   • Implement a mechanism to skip recompilation of unchanged files.

3. Verbose Mode:

   • Add a CLI flag for detailed logging of compilation steps.

4. Parallel Builds:

   • Utilize multiple CPU cores to speed up compilation.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! If you encounter issues or have feature suggestions, feel free to open an issue or submit a pull request on GitHub.

License

r3make is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for more information.