Build Tools

• They execute compilation commands directly (e.g., gcc , clang , javac ).

• Work with specific configuration files ( Makefile , build.ninja ).

• Called manually or by meta-build tools.

Command Runners

About

• Batch file style.

• No Incremental Builds, no Change Detection.

  • "Has this source file changed since it was compiled, or its dependencies?"

Just (or JustFile)

• Impressions :

  • Seems to provide very few options for args and conditional execution of programs.

  • Apparently on Windows it must be run via cmd or powershell, so any programming is internally done by the chosen shell, OR through Just’s own language.

  • Didn’t like it.

• Just .

  • Download and place the folder in the environment.

• just  is a command runner, similar to make , but with a more modern and simplified syntax.

• It has no language-specific knowledge like C, Rust, etc.

• You define recipes in the justfile , which are basically terminal commands to execute.

• For C projects, make  or more specialized tools like CMake  or Meson  provide features like:

  • Dependency detection.

  • Incremental compilation.

  • Cross-platform support.

• just  is more useful when you want a simple file to organize reusable commands (build, run, test, etc.), without dependency logic between files.

• Tutorial :

  • The file must be named justfile , without extension.

  • quick-start .

  • Cheat sheet .

  recipe-name:
    echo 'This is a recipe!'
  
  # this is a comment
  another-recipe:
    @echo 'This is another recipe.'
  

  • Running just  with no arguments runs the first recipe in the justfile .

  • One or more arguments specify the recipe(s) to run.

  • Recipes can depend on other recipes. Here the test  recipe depends on the build  recipe, so build  will run before test :

    build:
      cc main.c foo.c bar.c -o main
    
    test: build
      ./test
    
    sloc:
      @echo "`wc -l *.c` lines of code"
    

  • Recipes without dependencies run in the order given on the command line:

    $ just build sloc
    cc main.c foo.c bar.c -o main
    1337 lines of code
    

Batch

• .

Ninja

• Ninja .

• "Focus on speed".

• Less flexibility.

• "It's designed to have its input files generated by a higher-level build system".

  • So don’t use it alone; have something generate Ninja files using a Meta Build System, like CMake.

  • Not designed to be written manually.

• My version :

  • 1.12.1.

• Ninja vs CMake .

  • Ninja vs CMake doesn’t make sense, but Ninja WITH CMake does; it’s a good choice, especially for large projects.

GNU Make

• Make explanation {5:36 -> 10:00} .

• Make vs CMake pt1 .

  • Make has an absurdly more confusing syntax.

• Make vs CMake pt2 .

MSBuild / Visual Studio Project

• Visual Studio .

• Create a project, add files inside using the IDE, click Build Solution .

• Visual Studio Project vs CMake .

Disadvantages

• Completely Windows-focused.

  • Using a VS project limits deployment targets.

  • "Technically possible to export to other platforms, but not easy."

• Less Flexible.

  • You may not always be able to do or get what you want.

MSBuild

• MSBuild  is Microsoft’s default build engine for .NET, C++, and others.

• It interprets project files ( .vcxproj , .csproj ) and executes build steps.

• Works via command line and is used internally by Visual Studio.

• Visual Studio uses MSBuild internally when you click Build Solution.

• Visual Studio does not compile directly  – it calls MSBuild  (or other systems like CMake).

Visual Studio solution generated by CMake

• The projects install , ALL_BUILD , and ZERO_CHECK  are defaults when CMake generates solutions for Visual Studio.

• ALLBUILD

  • Function: Project that depends on all other projects created by CMake, except INSTALL  and ZEROCHECK .

  • Used to: Build all defined targets (executables, libraries, etc.) at once.

  • Behavior: Compiling ALLBUILD  builds everything configured in CMake.

• ZEROCHECK

  • Function: Ensures CMake reconfigures the project if CMakeLists.txt files change.

  • Used to: Automate regeneration of project files when build configuration changes.

  • Behavior: Runs automatically before any build, unless disabled.

• INSTALL

  • Function: Executes rules defined by install(...)  commands in CMakeLists.txt.

  • Used to: Copy binaries, headers, libraries, etc., to defined directories (like /usr/local  or an install  folder).

  • Behavior: Only makes sense if the CMake script has installation instructions.

Bazel

• From Google.

• For multiple languages: Java, C++, Go, etc.

• Requirements :

  • Bazelisk.

• Bazel vs CMake .

  • User experience was kind of messy.

Gradle

• Java/Kotlin.

• Build manager for the JVM (Android, Java, etc.).

XCodeBuild

• Build tool for macOS/iOS projects (Xcode).