Hermes⚡

A python based light-weight build system for C/C++, with an emphasis on simplicity and ease of use. The aim is to maintain transparency, but abstract away the tedious parts of building a project.

Setup

Dependencies

Requires python, and pip and pyinstaller installed. To install pyinstaller, run:

$ pip install pyinstaller

Installation

For windows x86_64, direct binaries can be downloaded from here

Download this repo as a zip file or clone it to you machine. In the main project directory, run:

$ pyinstaller hermes.py

or

$ python -m pyinstaller hermes.py

Next, add the generated dist/hermes folder to the system's PATH environment variable. Hermes is now set up.

Usage

Any project can be turned into a hermes project by creating a single hermes.json JSON file in the root folder of the project. This file is the single source of controlling the build system, and contains all the build information.

In the root folder of the project, open a terminal and run:

$ hermes

or simply create an empty hermes.json file. To build the project, simply run hermes in terminal.

The JSON file controls the following (and only) settings for building the project:

• "compiler" : The compiler used for building; defaults to c++ (not included) or uses the full path provided to compiler binary.
• "inputs" : Input files for the project; list of paths to the .cpp files. Can be absolute or relative paths, and to include all files in a folder use "folderpath/*" syntax; this contains all .cpp files both internal and external to the project directory.
• "includes" : List of all the include files' folder paths; syntax follows that of "inputs"; this contains header files outside of your project directory.
• "output" : Output file name; defaults to *first_input_file_name*_output.exe
• "run" : Optional setting, if set true the build output is automatically launched after building; defaults to false
• "flags" : List of any additional flags; these flags are added to the final compiler command as is.

Finally, to get verbose output, run:

$ hermes -v (for verbose) | -vv (for super verbose)

and see the final compiler command.

Hermes also has a global config file, which is stored at C:\hermes or /etc/hermes. To interact with this file through the terminal, use:

$ hermes global <operation> <key> <value>

where

• operations:
  • change - changes value at key to given value
  • append - appends the given value at key (only for lists)
  • show - display the current globals config

Note: show requires no key/value, and a value of . sets it to empty.

Build optimizations

While these can be added as flags, optimizations can also be enabled for a single compilation by running:

$ hermes <opt>

where <opt> can be

• -b for O1 level
• -bb for O2 level
• -bbb for O3 level
• -saikou for Ofast level Note: Not all these optimization levels are available in all compilers; refer to docs

All input files (*.c, *.cxx etc) are tracked automatically, and when hermes is called, only files with changes are recompiled to update object files, reducing build times. To force recompilation of all files, use -redo to simply update all object files, or -force to simple compile the entire application in a single compile command, original style.

And that's it! The build system is meant to be as non-opaque as possible, while still automating and speeding up only most tedious part of the building process, while still giving you complete control.

Authors