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README 

          
## Support this project



Support this project by [becoming a sponsor](https://xmake.io/#/about/sponsor). Your logo will show up here with a link to your website. 🙏








## Technical support



You can also consider sponsoring us to get extra technical support services via the [Github sponsor program](https://github.com/sponsors/waruqi). If you do, you can get access to the [xmake-io/technical-support](https://github.com/xmake-io/technical-support) repository, which has the following bennefits:



- [X] Handling Issues with higher priority

- [X] One-to-one technical consulting service

- [X] Review your xmake.lua and provide suggestions for improvement



## Introduction



What is Xmake?



1. Xmake is a cross-platform build utility based on the Lua scripting language.

2. Xmake is very lightweight and has no dependencies outside of the standard library.

3. Uses the `xmake.lua` file to maintain project builds with a simple and readable syntax.



Xmake can be used to directly build source code (like with Make or Ninja), or it can generate project source files like CMake or Meson. It also has a *built-in* package management system to help users integrate C/C++ dependencies.



```

Xmake = Build backend + Project Generator + Package Manager + [Remote|Distributed] Build + Cache

```



Although less precise, one can still understand Xmake in the following way:



```

Xmake ≈ Make/Ninja + CMake/Meson + Vcpkg/Conan + distcc + ccache/sccache

```



If you want to know more, please refer to: the [Documentation](https://xmake.io/#/getting_started), [GitHub](https://github.com/xmake-io/xmake) or [Gitee](https://gitee.com/tboox/xmake). You are also welcome to join our [community](https://xmake.io/#/about/contact).



The official Xmake repository can be found at [xmake-io/xmake-repo](https://github.com/xmake-io/xmake-repo).



## Installation



### With cURL



```bash

curl -fsSL https://xmake.io/shget.text | bash

```



### With Wget



```bash

wget https://xmake.io/shget.text -O - | bash

```



### With PowerShell



```sh

Invoke-Expression (Invoke-Webrequest 'https://xmake.io/psget.text' -UseBasicParsing).Content

```



### Other installation methods



If you don't want to use the above scripts to install Xmake, visit the [Installation Guide](https://xmake.io/#/guide/installation) for other installation methods (building from source, package managers, etc.).



## Simple Project Description



```lua

target("console")

    set_kind("binary")

    add_files("src/*.c")

```



Creates a new target `console` of kind `binary`, and adds all the files ending in `.c` in the `src` directory.



## Package dependences



```lua

add_requires("tbox 1.6.*", "zlib", "libpng ~1.6")

```



Adds a requirement of tbox v1.6, zlib (any version), and libpng v1.6.



The official xmake package repository exists at: [xmake-repo](https://github.com/xmake-io/xmake-repo)










## Commandline interface reference



The below assumes you are currently in the project's root directory.



### Build a project



```bash

$ xmake

```



### Run target



```bash

$ xmake run console

```



### Debug target



```bash

$ xmake run -d console

```



### Configure platform



```bash

$ xmake f -p [windows|linux|macosx|android|iphoneos ..] -a [x86|arm64 ..] -m [debug|release]

$ xmake

```



### Menu configuration



```bash

$ xmake f --menu

```










## Supported platforms



* Windows (x86, x64)

* macOS (i386, x86_64, arm64)

* Linux (i386, x86_64, cross-toolchains ..)

* *BSD (i386, x86_64)

* Android (x86, x86_64, armeabi, armeabi-v7a, arm64-v8a)

* iOS (armv7, armv7s, arm64, i386, x86_64)

* WatchOS (armv7k, i386)

* AppleTVOS (armv7, arm64, i386, x86_64)

* MSYS (i386, x86_64)

* MinGW (i386, x86_64, arm, arm64)

* Cygwin (i386, x86_64)

* Wasm (wasm32)

* Cross (cross-toolchains ..)



## Supported toolchains



### IDE-Tied



* Xcode

* MSVC (Microsoft Visual C compiler)

* Android NDK



### Languages



* Zig

* Go(lang)

* Swift

* Nim

* Rust

* GCC (GNU Compiler Collection)

* Clang

* TinyCC

* icc (Intel C Compiler)

* icpc (Intel C++ Compiler)

* icx (Intel LLVM C/C++ Compiler)

* Clang-CL (Clang Compatability with MSVC)

* DPC++ (Intel LLVM C++ Compiler using SYCL)

* MinGW (GNU for Windows)

* C51 (Keil C Compiler for the 8051)

* GNU-RM (GNU Arm Embedded Toolchain)

* ArmCC (Keil C Compiler for Keil MKD Version 5)

* Circle (New C++20 compiler)

* WASI (C/C++ WebAssembly Toolchain)

* ArmClang (Version 6 of the Keil MDK)

* SDCC (Small Device C Compiler)

* GDC (GNU D Compiler)

* LDC (LLVM D Compiler)

* DMD (Dlang)

* FPC (Free Pascal Programming Language Compiler)

* GFortran (GNU Fortran Compiler)

* Ifort (Intel Fortran Compiler)

* CUDA (nvcc, nvc, nvc++, nvfortran)

* Emscripten

* LLVM

* Icarus Verilog

* Verilator (SystemVerilog simulator and lint system)



### Assemblers



* FASM

* NASM

* YASM

* MASM32 (Microsoft Macro Assembler 32-bit SDK)



## Supported languages



* C, C++ (including cpp2)

* Objective-C and Objective-C++

* Swift

* Assembly

* Golang

* Rust

* Dlang

* Fortran

* Cuda

* Zig

* Vala

* Pascal

* Nim

* Verilog

* FASM

* NASM

* YASM

* MASM32



## Features



Xmake exhibits:



* Simple yet flexible configuration grammar.

* Quick, dependency-free installation.

* Easy compilation for most all supported platforms.

* Supports cross-compilation with intelligent analysis of cross toolchain information.

* Extremely fast parallel compilation support.

* Supports C++ modules (new in C++20).

* Supports cross-platform C/C++ dependencies with built-in package manager.

* Multi-language compilation support including mixed-language projects.

* Rich plug-in support with various project generators (ex. Visual Studio/Makefiles/CMake/`compile_commands.json`)

* REPL interactive execution support

* Incremental compilation support with automatic analysis of header files

* Built-in toolchain management

* A large number of expansion modules

* Remote compilation support

* Distributed compilation support

* Local and remote build cache support



## Supported Project Types



Xmake supports the below types of projects:



* Static libraries

* Shared libraries

* Console/CLI applications

* CUDA programs

* Qt applications

* WDK drivers (umdf/kmdf/wdm)

* WinSDK applications

* MFC applications

* Darwin applications (with metal support)

* Frameworks and bundles (in Darwin)

* SWIG modules (Lua, Python, ...)

* LuaRocks modules

* Protobuf programs

* Lex/Yacc programs

* Linux kernel modules



## Package management



### Download and build



Xmake can automatically fetch and install dependencies!










### Supported package repositories



* Official package repository [xmake-repo](https://github.com/xmake-io/xmake-repo) (tbox >1.6.1)

* Official package manager [Xrepo](https://github.com/xmake-io/xrepo)

* [User-built repositories](https://xmake.io/#/package/remote_package?id=using-self-built-private-package-repository)

* Conan (conan::openssl/1.1.1g)

* Conda (conda::libpng 1.3.67)

* Vcpkg (vcpkg::ffmpeg)

* Homebrew/Linuxbrew (brew::pcre2/libpcre2-8)

* Pacman on archlinux/msys2 (pacman::libcurl)

* Apt on ubuntu/debian (apt::zlib1g-dev)

* Clib (clib::clibs/bytes@0.0.4)

* Dub (dub::log 0.4.3)

* Portage on Gentoo/Linux (portage::libhandy)

* Nimble for nimlang (nimble::zip >1.3)

* Cargo for rust (cargo::base64 0.13.0)



### Package management features



* The official repository provides nearly 500+ packages with simple compilation on all supported platforms

* Full platform package support, support for cross-compiled dependent packages

* Support package virtual environment using `xrepo env shell`

* Precompiled package acceleration for Windows (NT)

* Support self-built package repositories and private repository deployment

* Third-party package repository support for repositories such as: vcpkg, conan, conda, etc.

* Supports automatic pulling of remote toolchains

* Supports dependency version locking



## Processing architecture



Below is a diagram showing roughly the architecture of Xmake, and thus how it functions.










## Distributed Compilation



- [X] Cross-platform support.

- [X] Support for MSVC, Clang, GCC and other cross-compilation toolchains.

- [X] Support for building for Android, Linux, Windows NT, and Darwin hosts.

- [X] No dependencies other than the compilation toolchain.

- [X] Support for build server load balancing scheduling.

- [X] Support for real time compressed transfer of large files (lz4).

- [X] Almost zero configuration cost, no shared filesystem required, for convenience and security.



For more details see: [#274](https://github.com/xmake-io/xmake/issues/274)



## Remote Compilation



For more details see: [#622](https://github.com/xmake-io/xmake/issues/622)



## Local/Remote Build Cache



For more details see: [#622](https://github.com/xmake-io/xmake/issues/2371)



## Benchmark



Xmake's speed on is par with Ninja! The test project: [xmake-core](https://github.com/xmake-io/xmake/tree/master/core)



### Multi-task parallel compilation



| buildsystem      | Termux (8core/-j12) | buildsystem      | MacOS (8core/-j12) |

| ------------------ | --------------------- | ------------------ | -------------------- |

| xmake            | 24.890s             | xmake            | 12.264s            |

| ninja            | 25.682s             | ninja            | 11.327s            |

| cmake(gen+make)  | 5.416s+28.473s      | cmake(gen+make)  | 1.203s+14.030s     |

| cmake(gen+ninja) | 4.458s+24.842s      | cmake(gen+ninja) | 0.988s+11.644s     |



## Single task compilation



| buildsystem      | Termux (-j1)     | buildsystem      | MacOS (-j1)    |

| ------------------ | ------------------ | ------------------ | ---------------- |

| xmake            | 1m57.707s        | xmake            | 39.937s        |

| ninja            | 1m52.845s        | ninja            | 38.995s        |

| cmake(gen+make)  | 5.416s+2m10.539s | cmake(gen+make)  | 1.203s+41.737s |

| cmake(gen+ninja) | 4.458s+1m54.868s | cmake(gen+ninja) | 0.988s+38.022s |



## More Examples



### Debug and release profiles



```lua

add_rules("mode.debug", "mode.release")



target("console")

    set_kind("binary")

    add_files("src/*.c")

    if is_mode("debug") then

        add_defines("DEBUG")

    end

```



### Custom scripts



```lua

target("test")

    set_kind("binary")

    add_files("src/*.c")

    after_build(function (target)

        print("hello: %s", target:name())

        os.exec("echo %s", target:targetfile())

    end)

```



### Automatic integration of dependent packages



Download and use packages in [xmake-repo](https://github.com/xmake-io/xmake-repo) or third-party repositories:



```lua

add_requires("tbox >1.6.1", "libuv master", "vcpkg::ffmpeg", "brew::pcre2/libpcre2-8")

add_requires("conan::openssl/1.1.1g", {alias = "openssl", optional = true, debug = true})

target("test")

    set_kind("binary")

    add_files("src/*.c")

    add_packages("tbox", "libuv", "vcpkg::ffmpeg", "brew::pcre2/libpcre2-8", "openssl")

```



In addition, we can also use the [xrepo](https://github.com/xmake-io/xrepo) command to quickly install dependencies.



### Qt QuickApp Program



```lua

target("test")

    add_rules("qt.quickapp")

    add_files("src/*.cpp")

    add_files("src/qml.qrc")

```



### Cuda Program



```lua

target("test")

    set_kind("binary")

    add_files("src/*.cu")

    add_cugencodes("native")

    add_cugencodes("compute_35")

```



### WDK/UMDF Driver Program



```lua

target("echo")

    add_rules("wdk.driver", "wdk.env.umdf")

    add_files("driver/*.c")

    add_files("driver/*.inx")

    add_includedirs("exe")



target("app")

    add_rules("wdk.binary", "wdk.env.umdf")

    add_files("exe/*.cpp")

```



For more WDK driver examples (UMDF/KMDF/WDM), please visit [WDK Program Examples](https://xmake.io/#/guide/project_examples?id=wdk-driver-program)



### Darwin Applications



```lua

target("test")

    add_rules("xcode.application")

    add_files("src/*.m", "src/**.storyboard", "src/*.xcassets")

    add_files("src/Info.plist")

```



### Framework and Bundle Program (Darwin)



```lua

target("test")

    add_rules("xcode.framework") -- or xcode.bundle

    add_files("src/*.m")

    add_files("src/Info.plist")

```



### OpenMP Program



```lua

add_requires("libomp", {optional = true})

target("loop")

    set_kind("binary")

    add_files("src/*.cpp")

    add_rules("c++.openmp")

    add_packages("libomp")

```



### Zig Program



```lua

target("test")

    set_kind("binary")

    add_files("src/main.zig")

```



### Automatically fetch remote toolchain



#### fetch a special version of LLVM



Require the Clang version packaged with LLM-10 to compile a project.



```lua

add_requires("llvm 10.x", {alias = "llvm-10"})

target("test")

    set_kind("binary")

    add_files("src/*.c")

    set_toolchains("llvm@llvm-10")

```



#### Fetch a cross-compilation toolchain



We can also pull a specified cross-compilation toolchain in to compile the project.



```lua

add_requires("muslcc")

target("test")

    set_kind("binary")

    add_files("src/*.c")

    set_toolchains("@muslcc")

```



#### Fetch toolchain and packages



We can also use the specified `muslcc` cross-compilation toolchain to compile and integrate all dependent packages.



```lua

add_requires("muslcc")

add_requires("zlib", "libogg", {system = false})



set_toolchains("@muslcc")



target("test")

    set_kind("binary")

    add_files("src/*.c")

    add_packages("zlib", "libogg")

```



## Plugins



#### Generate IDE project file plugin（makefile, vs2002 - vs2022 .. ）



```bash

$ xmake project -k vsxmake -m "debug,release" # New vsproj generator (Recommended)

$ xmake project -k vs -m "debug,release"

$ xmake project -k cmake

$ xmake project -k ninja

$ xmake project -k compile_commands

```



#### Run a custom lua script plugin



```bash

$ xmake l ./test.lua

$ xmake l -c "print('hello xmake!')"

$ xmake l lib.detect.find_tool gcc

$ xmake l

> print("hello xmake!")

> {1, 2, 3}

< {

    1,

    2,

    3

  }

```



To see a list of bultin plugs, please visit [Builtin plugins](https://xmake.io/#/plugin/builtin_plugins).



Please download and install other plugins from the plugins repository [xmake-plugins](https://github.com/xmake-io/xmake-plugins).



## IDE/Editor Integration



* [xmake-vscode](https://github.com/xmake-io/xmake-vscode)






* [xmake-sublime](https://github.com/xmake-io/xmake-sublime)






* [xmake-idea](https://github.com/xmake-io/xmake-idea)






* [xmake.nvim](https://github.com/Mythos-404/xmake.nvim) (third-party, thanks [@Mythos_404](https://github.com/Mythos-404))






* [xmake.vim](https://github.com/luzhlon/xmake.vim) (third-party, thanks [@luzhlon](https://github.com/luzhlon))

* [xmake-visualstudio](https://github.com/HelloWorld886/xmake-visualstudio) (third-party, thanks [@HelloWorld886](https://github.com/HelloWorld886))

* [xmake-qtcreator](https://github.com/Arthapz/xmake-project-manager) (third-party, thanks [@Arthapz](https://github.com/Arthapz))



### Xmake Gradle Plugin (JNI)



We can use the [xmake-gradle](https://github.com/xmake-io/xmake-gradle) plugin to compile JNI libraries via gradle.



```

plugins {

  id 'org.tboox.gradle-xmake-plugin' version '1.1.5'

}



android {

    externalNativeBuild {

        xmake {

            path "jni/xmake.lua"

        }

    }

}

```



The `xmakeBuild` task will be injected into the `assemble` task automatically if the `gradle-xmake-plugin` has been applied.



```console

$ ./gradlew app:assembleDebug

> Task :nativelib:xmakeConfigureForArm64

> Task :nativelib:xmakeBuildForArm64

>> xmake build

[ 50%]: cache compiling.debug nativelib.cc

[ 75%]: linking.debug libnativelib.so

[100%]: build ok!

>> install artifacts to /Users/ruki/projects/personal/xmake-gradle/nativelib/libs/arm64-v8a

> Task :nativelib:xmakeConfigureForArmv7

> Task :nativelib:xmakeBuildForArmv7

>> xmake build

[ 50%]: cache compiling.debug nativelib.cc

[ 75%]: linking.debug libnativelib.so

[100%]: build ok!

>> install artifacts to /Users/ruki/projects/personal/xmake-gradle/nativelib/libs/armeabi-v7a

> Task :nativelib:preBuild

> Task :nativelib:assemble

> Task :app:assembleDebug

```



## CI Integration



### GitHub Action



The [github-action-setup-xmake](https://github.com/xmake-io/github-action-setup-xmake) plugin for GitHub Actions can allow you to use Xmake with minimal efforts if you use GitHub Actions for your CI pipeline.



```yaml

uses: xmake-io/github-action-setup-xmake@v1

with:

  xmake-version: latest

```



## Who is using Xmake?



The list of people and projects who are using Xmake is available [here](https://xmake.io/#/about/who_is_using_xmake).



If you are using Xmake, you are welcome to submit your information to the above list through a PR, so that other users and the developers can gauge interest.  Ihis also let users to use xmake more confidently and give us motivation to continue to maintain it.



This will help the Xmake project and it's community grow stronger and expand!



## Contacts



* Email：[waruqi@gmail.com](mailto:waruqi@gmail.com)

* Homepage：[xmake.io](https://xmake.io)

* Community

  - [Chat on Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/xmake/)

  - [Chat on Telegram](https://t.me/tbooxorg)

  - [Chat on Discord](https://discord.gg/xmake)

  - Chat on QQ Group: 343118190, 662147501

* Source Code：[GitHub](https://github.com/xmake-io/xmake), [Gitee](https://gitee.com/tboox/xmake)

* WeChat Public: tboox-os



## Thanks



This project exists thanks to all the people who have [contributed](CONTRIBUTING.md):




* [TitanSnow](https://github.com/TitanSnow): Provide the xmake [logo](https://github.com/TitanSnow/ts-xmake-logo) and install scripts

* [uael](https://github.com/uael): Provide the semantic versioning library [sv](https://github.com/uael/sv)

* [OpportunityLiu](https://github.com/OpportunityLiu): Improve cuda, tests and ci

* [xq144](https://github.com/xq114): Improve `xrepo env shell`, and contribute a lot of packages to the [xmake-repo](https://github.com/xmake-io/xmake-repo) repository.

* `enderger`: Helped smooth out the edges on the English translation of the README