EasyMake

Introduction

EasyMake is an extension of GNU Make designed to simplify its usage for C/C++ projects. It allows users to control the entire build process solely through variable definitions, eliminating the need to write custom rules.

In the simplest case, only two lines of code are sufficient to create a functional Makefile that supports parallel compilation of multiple files. Don't believe it? Then check out the first included example to see how easy it can be.

Features

• Fully parallel compilation and linking
• Automatic discovery of source files
• Automatic dependency resolution
• Automatic detection and use of ccache (compiler cache)
• Separate source and build directories
• Optional verbose mode (make V=1)
• Entire functionality contained in a single file

Prerequisites

• GNU Make 3.81+
• GCC 4.9+

Usage

EasyMake requires that the source codes of each program or library be organized into separate subdirectories. The lists of programs, static libraries and shared libraries to be built must be defined using the custom variables PROGRAMS, STATIC_LIBS and SHARED_LIBS in the main Makefile.

Compilation, linking and installation are affected by the standard variables AR, CC, CXX, CFLAGS, CXXFLAGS, CPPFLAGS, LDFLAGS and LDLIBS as well as the custom variables DEPENDS, OBJDIR, BINDIR, LIBDIR and INCDIR which can be defined either in the main Makefile or in an optional file Setup.mk.

It is also possible to override the default behaviour or settings for each subdirectory using custom variables like <dir>_CFLAGS which can be defined in optional files <dir>/Setup.mk.

Variable	Default	Description
PROGRAMS		list of programs to be built
STATIC_LIBS		list of static libraries to be built
SHARED_LIBS		list of shared libraries to be built
DEPENDS		list of global dependencies
OBJDIR	OBJ	subdirectory for object files
BINDIR	/usr/bin	directory for installing programs
LIBDIR	/usr/lib	directory for installing libraries
INCDIR	/usr/include	directory for installing header files
AR	ar	archiver tool
CC	cc	C compiler
CXX	g++	C++ compiler
CFLAGS		global C compiler flags
CXXFLAGS		global C++ compiler flags
CPPFLAGS		global preprocessor flags
LDFLAGS		global linker flags
LDLIBS		global library flags
<dir>_NAME	<dir>	target file base name
<dir>_MODE	autoselect	target file permission mode
<dir>_PATH	autoselect	target installation path
<dir>_DEPENDS		list of additional dependencies
<dir>_HEADERS	autodetect	list of header files
<dir>_SOURCES	autodetect	list of source files
<dir>_LIBS		list of libraries
<dir>_COMPILER	autoselect	compiler
<dir>_LINKER	autoselect	linker
<dir>_CFLAGS		additional C compiler flags
<dir>_CXXFLAGS		additional C++ compiler flags
<dir>_CPPFLAGS		additional preprocessor flags
<dir>_LDFLAGS		additional linker flags
<dir>_LDLIBS		additional library flags
<dir>_INSTALL	copy files	install command
<dir>_UNINSTALL	remove files	uninstall command
<dir>_PRE_INSTALL		pre-install command
<dir>_PRE_UNINSTALL		pre-uninstall command
<dir>_POST_INSTALL		post-install command
<dir>_POST_UNINSTALL		post-uninstall command

Directory structure

EasyMake
 |
 |--example1               Basic example
 |
 |--example2               Advanced example
 |
 |--LICENSE                BSD 3-clause license
 |--NEWS.md                Version history
 |--README.md              This file
 +--Rules.mk               Build rules

License

The code is available under the BSD 3-clause license. See the LICENSE file for the full license text.