🏗️ Builderer - a fast, dependency-free, build-file generator

Documentation

• Getting Started - Installation and quick start guide
• Build Files - Define targets, dependencies, and external libraries
• Configuration - Configure platforms, toolchains, and conditionals
• Commands - Generate, build, run, and manage projects

What is Builderer?

Builderer generates native build files from Python-based build descriptions. It's designed for C/C++/Objective-C/Swift projects that need to support multiple platforms and toolchains without the complexity of traditional meta-build systems.

Supported Platforms and Build Systems

Build System	Windows	Linux	macOS	iOS	WebAssembly
Makefile		Supported	Supported	TODO	Supported
MSBuild	Supported
Xcode			Supported	TODO

Why Builderer?

Zero System Dependencies

• Only requires Python 3.9+ - no other system-level dependencies needed
• No system-wide installation - use a virtual environment, git submodule, or copy directly into your repository
• Per-project versioning - each project can use its own Builderer version without conflicts

Real Python, Not a DSL

• Actual Python syntax - not a Python-like DSL or an old Python fork
• Familiar to developers - Python is the world's most popular programming language
• Simple guardrails - CONFIG.builderer, RULES.builderer, and BUILD.builderer files provide structure
• API inspired by Bazel/Buck - familiar patterns without rigid constraints

Native Build Files

• Standalone output - generated Makefiles and Visual Studio solutions don't depend on Builderer
• IDE integration - works seamlessly with Visual Studio and any editor that supports Makefiles
• Standard tooling support - static analyzers, profilers, and debuggers work natively
• Transferable projects - share generated build files with clients or teammates without Builderer

Multi-Configuration Support

• Deferred conditionals - generate projects that support multiple configurations and architectures
• Single generation - produce build files for debug/release, x64/ARM64, etc. in one pass
• Configuration branches in build files - switch configurations in your IDE without regenerating

Fast and Scalable

• Millisecond generation - typically under 1 second even for large projects
• Partial generation - generate only the targets you need for faster iteration making it mono-repo friendly
• Smart updates - only touches files that changed, so IDEs reload seamlessly

Extensible and Approachable

• Small, readable codebase - implemented in straightforward Python
• Easy to customize - modify or extend for your project's unique needs
• No system install needed - fork and adapt without affecting other projects to meet your custom requirements

Explicit Yet Concise

• No magic defaults - Builderer doesn't make implicit decisions about your build configuration
• Clear and predictable - what you write in your build files is exactly what gets generated
• Still concise - despite being explicit, target definitions are often just a few lines long
• Workspace-wide defaults - use RULES.builderer to define common settings once and apply them everywhere