xmake A cross-platform build utility based on Lua
Modern C/C++ build tool: Simple, Fast, Powerful dependency package integration
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Handling Issues with higher priority One-to-one technical consulting service
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What is Xmake?
Xmake is a cross-platform build utility based on the Lua scripting language. Xmake is very lightweight and has no dependencies outside of the standard library. 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, GitHub or Gitee. You are also welcome to join our community.
The official Xmake repository can be found at xmake-io/xmake-repo.
Installation
With cURL
curl -fsSL https://xmake.io/shget.text | bash
With Wget
wget https://xmake.io/shget.text -O - | bash
With PowerShell
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 for other installation methods (building from source, package managers, etc.).
Simple Project Description
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
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
Commandline interface reference
The below assumes you are currently in the project's root directory.
Build a project
$ xmake
Run target
$ xmake run console
Debug target
$ xmake run -d console
Run test
$ xmake test
Configure platform
$ xmake f -p [windows | linux | macosx | android | iphoneos ..] -a [x86 | arm64 ..] -m [debug | release] $ xmake
Menu configuration
$ xmake f --menu
Supported platforms
Windows (x86, x64, arm64)
macOS (i386, x86_64, arm64)
Linux (i386, x86_64, arm, arm64, riscv, mips, 390x, sh4 ...)
*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)
AppleXROS (arm64, x86_64)
MSYS (i386, x86_64)
MinGW (i386, x86_64, arm, arm64)
Cygwin (i386, x86_64)
Wasm (wasm32, wasm64)
Haiku (i386, x86_64)
Harmony (x86_64, armeabi-v7a, arm64-v8a)
Cross (cross-toolchains ..)
Supported toolchains
$ xmake show -l toolchains xcode Xcode IDE msvc Microsoft Visual C/C++ Compiler clang-cl LLVM Clang C/C++ Compiler compatible with msvc yasm The Yasm Modular Assembler clang A C language family frontend for LLVM go Go Programming Language Compiler dlang D Programming Language Compiler (Auto) dmd D Programming Language Compiler ldc The LLVM-based D Compiler gdc The GNU D Compiler (GDC) gfortran GNU Fortran Programming Language Compiler zig Zig Programming Language Compiler sdcc Small Device C Compiler cuda CUDA Toolkit (nvcc, nvc, nvc++, nvfortran) ndk Android NDK rust Rust Programming Language Compiler swift Swift Programming Language Compiler llvm A collection of modular and reusable compiler and toolchain technologies cross Common cross compilation toolchain nasm NASM Assembler gcc GNU Compiler Collection mingw Minimalist GNU for Windows gnu-rm GNU Arm Embedded Toolchain envs Environment variables toolchain fasm Flat Assembler tinycc Tiny C Compiler emcc A toolchain for compiling to asm.js and WebAssembly icc Intel C/C++ Compiler ifort Intel Fortran Compiler muslcc The musl-based cross-compilation toolchain fpc Free Pascal Programming Language Compiler wasi WASI-enabled WebAssembly C/C++ toolchain nim Nim Programming Language Compiler circle A new C++20 compiler armcc ARM Compiler Version 5 of Keil MDK armclang ARM Compiler Version 6 of Keil MDK c51 Keil development tools for the 8051 Microcontroller Architecture icx Intel LLVM C/C++ Compiler dpcpp Intel LLVM C++ Compiler for data parallel programming model based on Khronos SYCL masm32 The MASM32 SDK iverilog Icarus Verilog verilator Verilator open-source SystemVerilog simulator and lint system cosmocc build-once run-anywhere hdk Harmony SDK
Supported languages
C and C++
Objective-C and Objective-C++
Swift
Assembly
Golang
Rust
Dlang
Fortran
Cuda
Zig
Vala
Pascal
Nim
Verilog
FASM
NASM
YASM
MASM32
Cppfront
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 (tbox >1.6.1)
Official package manager Xrepo
User-built repositories
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)
Zypper on openSUSE (zypper::libsfml2 2.5)
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
Cross-platform support.
Cross-platform support. Support for MSVC, Clang, GCC and other cross-compilation toolchains.
Support for MSVC, Clang, GCC and other cross-compilation toolchains. Support for building for Android, Linux, Windows NT, and Darwin hosts.
Support for building for Android, Linux, Windows NT, and Darwin hosts. No dependencies other than the compilation toolchain.
No dependencies other than the compilation toolchain. Support for build server load balancing scheduling.
Support for build server load balancing scheduling. Support for real time compressed transfer of large files (lz4).
Support for real time compressed transfer of large files (lz4). Almost zero configuration cost, no shared filesystem required, for convenience and security.
For more details see: #274
Remote Compilation
For more details see: #622
Local/Remote Build Cache
For more details see: #622
Benchmark
Xmake's speed on is par with Ninja! The test project: xmake-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
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
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 or third-party repositories:
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 command to quickly install dependencies.
Qt QuickApp Program
target ( " test " ) add_rules ( " qt.quickapp " ) add_files ( " src/*.cpp " ) add_files ( " src/qml.qrc " )
Cuda Program
target ( " test " ) set_kind ( " binary " ) add_files ( " src/*.cu " ) add_cugencodes ( " native " ) add_cugencodes ( " compute_35 " )
WDK/UMDF Driver Program
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
Darwin Applications
target ( " test " ) add_rules ( " xcode.application " ) add_files ( " src/*.m " , " src/**.storyboard " , " src/*.xcassets " ) add_files ( " src/Info.plist " )
Framework and Bundle Program (Darwin)
target ( " test " ) add_rules ( " xcode.framework " ) -- or xcode.bundle add_files ( " src/*.m " ) add_files ( " src/Info.plist " )
OpenMP Program
add_requires ( " libomp " , { optional = true }) target ( " loop " ) set_kind ( " binary " ) add_files ( " src/*.cpp " ) add_rules ( " c++.openmp " ) add_packages ( " libomp " )
Zig Program
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.
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.
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.
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 .. ）
$ 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
$ 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.
Please download and install other plugins from the plugins repository xmake-plugins.
IDE/Editor Integration
Xmake Gradle Plugin (JNI)
We can use the 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.
$ ./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 plugin for GitHub Actions can allow you to use Xmake with minimal efforts if you use GitHub Actions for your CI pipeline.
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.
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
Thanks
This project exists thanks to all the people who have contributed: