SMake

Simple Make replacement for lazy developers that like Python.

What is it for?

You think that Makefiles are confusing or unreadable? You're too lazy to go through CMake or Autotools? If so, SMake is for you. It's simply a Python module that used in .py file links and compiles your C/C++ project.

Requirements

• Python 3.6+
• Click (optional)

Supported compilers

• gcc
• g++
• clang

Example code

Example for Hello world example:

src/hello.c:

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    printf("Hello, SMakefile!\n");
    return 0;
}

Smakefile.py:

import smake_buildtools
import click

sm = smake_buildtools.Smake()
sm.name = 'hello'
sm.obj_dir = 'obj'
sm.bin_dir = 'build'

@click.group()
def cli():
    pass
    
@cli.command()
def install():
    sm.gcc.sources = ['src/hello.c']
    sm.gcc.compiler_flags.append('pedantic')
    sm.gcc.warning_flags.append('all')       
    sm.gcc.link()
    sm.gcc.compile()

@cli.command()
def clean():
    sm.remove_dir(sm.obj_dir)
    sm.remove_dir(sm.bin_dir)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    cli()

Running the script

$ python ./SMakefile.py install

How to install

Using pip:

$ pip install smake_buildtools

Okay, how to use it?

First you need to import SMake:

import smake_buildtools

Defining project

Then define your SMake project:

sm = smake_buildtools.Smake()
sm.name = 'app'
sm.obj_dir = 'obj'
sm.bin_dir = 'build'

Adding source files

You need to add some source files for compiler. For example, we have sources in src/ and src/module directories. For this we can use two SMake methods: Smake.wildcard and Smake.merge.

sm.gcc_cpp.sources = sm.merge(
    sm.wildcard('src/*.cpp'),
    sm.wildcard('src/module/*.cpp')
)

Compiler flags

Then add some flags (here we can use some SFML libs):

sm.gcc_cpp.compiler_flags = ['pedantic', 'static']
sm.gcc_cpp.warning_flags = ['all']

# SFML 2
sm.gcc_cpp.linker_flags.append('sfml-graphics')
sm.gcc_cpp.linker_flags.append('sfml-window')
sm.gcc_cpp.linker_flags.append('sfml-system')
sm.gcc_cpp.linker_flags.append('sfml-audio')

Platform checking

For Linux it's easy to install libraries via the package manager. But what if you want specifically for Windows to add SFML include/ and lib/ directories? With help comes Smake.get_platform():

# SFML 2
if sm.get_platform().startswith('win'): # win32, win64
    sm.gcc_cpp.include_dirs.append('C:\\SFML2\\include')
    sm.gcc_cpp.library_dirs.append('C:\\SFML2\\lib')

Compiling and linking

Now the easiest ones are left: compiling and linking. For this you use Smake.compile() and Smake.link() method, respectively.

sm.gcc_cpp.compile()
sm.gcc_cpp.link()

Summary

As you can see, for normal user every line is very clear. If someone wants to compile your code it's easy for them to see what values are used for what.

Example code:

import smake_buildtools
import click

sm = smake_buildtools.Smake()
sm.name = 'app'
sm.obj_dir = 'obj'
sm.bin_dir = 'build'

@click.group()
def cli():
    pass
    
@cli.command()
def install():
    sm.gcc_cpp.sources = sm.merge(
        sm.wildcard('src/*.cpp'),
        sm.wildcard('src/module/*.cpp'))
    sm.gcc_cpp.compiler_flags = ['pedantic', 'static']
    sm.gcc_cpp.warning_flags = ['all']

    # SFML 2
    sm.gcc_cpp.linker_flags.append('sfml-graphics')
    sm.gcc_cpp.linker_flags.append('sfml-window')
    sm.gcc_cpp.linker_flags.append('sfml-system')
    sm.gcc_cpp.linker_flags.append('sfml-audio')
    if sm.get_platform().startswith('win'): # win32, win64
        sm.gcc_cpp.include_dirs.append('C:\\SFML2\\include')
        sm.gcc_cpp.library_dirs.append('C:\\SFML2\\lib')

    sm.gcc_cpp.compile()
    sm.gcc_cpp.link()
    
    # post-linking stuff
    if sm.get_platform().startswith('linux') or sm.get_platform() == 'darwin':
        target_path = sm.make_path('usr', 'bin', sm.name)
        sm.copy_executable_to(target_path)

@cli.command()
def clean():
    sm.remove_dir(sm.obj_dir)
    sm.remove_dir(sm.bin_dir)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    cli()

Save this as SMakefile.py in project root directory and run:

$ python ./SMakefile.py install