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Introduction

xmake is a lightweight cross-platform build utility based on Lua. It uses xmake.lua to maintain project builds. Compared with makefile/CMakeLists.txt, the configuration syntax is more concise and intuitive. It is very friendly to novices and can quickly get started in a short time. Let users focus more on actual project development.

It can compile the project directly like Make/Ninja, or generate project files like CMake/Meson, and it also has a built-in package management system to help users solve the integrated use of C/C++ dependent libraries.

If you want to know more, please refer to: Documents, Github and Gitee and 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

Simple description

Package dependences

An official xmake package repository: 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)

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)
• 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
vs            VisualStudio IDE
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
ndk           Android NDK
rust          Rust 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 toolchains

Supported Languages

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

Support Features

• Simple project configuration syntax
• Direct build support, without relying on any third-party back-end make tools
• Support cross platform
• Support cross compilation
• Multi-task parallel compilation support
• C++20 Module-TS support
• Support cross-platform C/C++ dependency packages
• Support self-built distributed and third-party package repositories
• Support multi-language mixed compilation
• Flexible lua scripts, rich extension modules
• Support for generating vsproj/cmake/makefile/compile_commands files
• REPL interactive execution support
• Incremental compilation support, automatic analysis of header dependency files
• Fast switching toolchains
• Automatic pull toolchain and dependency package integration

Supported Projects

• Static Library
• Shared Library
• Console
• Cuda Program
• Qt Application
• WDK Driver (umdf/kmdf/wdm)
• WinSDK Application
• MFC Application
• iOS/MacOS Application
• Framework and Bundle Program (iOS/MacOS)

More Examples

Debug and release modes

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 dependent packages.

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 (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/*.zig")

Automatically fetch remote toolchain

fetch the 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 the specified cross-compilation tool chain to compile the project.

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

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 - vs2019 .. ）

$ 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 the custom lua script plugin

$ 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, please see: Builtin plugins

Please download and install more other plugins from the plugins repository xmake-plugins.

IDE/Editor Integration

• xmake-vscode

• xmake-sublime

• xmake-idea

• xmake.vim (third-party, thanks @luzhlon)

XMake Gradle Plugin (JNI)

We can uses xmake-gradle plugin to compile JNI library in gradle.

plugins {
  id 'org.tboox.gradle-xmake-plugin' version '1.0.6'
}

android {
    externalNativeBuild {
        xmake {
            path "jni/xmake.lua"
        }
    }
}

The xmakeBuild will be injected to assemble task automatically if the gradle-xmake-plugin has been applied.

$ ./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

Technical Support

We also provide paid technical support to help users quickly solve related problems. For details, please click the image link below:

Or you can also consider sponsoring us to get technical support services, [Become a sponsor]

Who is using Xmake?

Please click User List to view the complete user list.

If you are using xmake, welcome to submit the information to the above list through PR, so that let more users can known how many users are using xmake.

Ihis also let users to use xmake more confidently, and we will also have more motivation to maintain it continuously, so that the xmake project and the community will 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