I want to just compile without hassle. Literally just write my code then press ctrl-m.
.bat files require you to write out every file you use
same with cmake
any solutions?
.bat files require you to write out every file you use
same with cmake
any solutions?
Edited by Aled Jones
on
Reason: Initial post
There's no such thing as a magical build system that *just works* in the land of C++ unfortunately.
Approximates to the *just works* are:
unity build - just include all your cpp files into one other cpp file, build just that one file
cl *.cpp - build all with a wild card
even these will become problems eventually... c'est la vie
Approximates to the *just works* are:
unity build - just include all your cpp files into one other cpp file, build just that one file
cl *.cpp - build all with a wild card
even these will become problems eventually... c'est la vie
How do you compile? A long list of .cpp and .h files in a .bat file?
I generally go the unity build route for as long as I can. When I have to get back compilation speed I do it by moving a large chunk into a separate static (.lib/.a) or shared (.dll/.so) file and I have different scripts for each chunk (or something like that).
If you're not familiar with the unity build, it's just where you go:
cl <all my options> my_target_file.cpp
Then in the target file you'll see something similar to:
Of course if you wanted to avoid a list of files you haven't really achieved that, it's just an include list instead of a .bat list, but this does just work out nicer anyway. It makes fewer .obj files. It's a nicer syntax, at least for me. You get an error jumping you to the correct file and line when there's a misspelling.
If you're really worried about having to list all your .cpp and .h files, you can still just do "cl *.cpp", but I think the list of files is worth it.
If you're not familiar with the unity build, it's just where you go:
cl <all my options> my_target_file.cpp
Then in the target file you'll see something similar to:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 | // TOP #include "foo.h" #include "bar.h" #include "baz.h" // maybe some code, maybe not #include "foo.cpp" #include "bar.cpp" #include "foobar.cpp" // probably more code int main(){ // etc } // BOTTOM |
Of course if you wanted to avoid a list of files you haven't really achieved that, it's just an include list instead of a .bat list, but this does just work out nicer anyway. It makes fewer .obj files. It's a nicer syntax, at least for me. You get an error jumping you to the correct file and line when there's a misspelling.
If you're really worried about having to list all your .cpp and .h files, you can still just do "cl *.cpp", but I think the list of files is worth it.
@Allen
What problems did you have with the unity build?
One problem I ran into with the unity build was an IDE I was using at the time didn't understand it, so no fancy code completion and other things like that. So I saw no reason to use IDEs after that.
@Aled
Just recently I was able to understand make files. I found an article written by a university professor that explained them so I understood them. If you are interested I will hunt it down.
Understanding would be the best chance of having something that just works, but unity builds are what you want if you want the fastest builds.
What problems did you have with the unity build?
One problem I ran into with the unity build was an IDE I was using at the time didn't understand it, so no fancy code completion and other things like that. So I saw no reason to use IDEs after that.
@Aled
Just recently I was able to understand make files. I found an article written by a university professor that explained them so I understood them. If you are interested I will hunt it down.
Understanding would be the best chance of having something that just works, but unity builds are what you want if you want the fastest builds.