Premake vs Automake

Struggling to choose between Premake and Automake? Both products offer unique advantages, making it a tough decision.

Premake is a Development solution with tags like c, crossplatform, automation.

It boasts features such as Generate project files for Visual Studio, Xcode, Make and others, Support for C, C++, C#, Lua and other languages, Cross-platform build configuration, Command line and GUI interface, Extensible Lua scripting, Open source and free and pros including Automates and simplifies project configuration, Saves time compared to manual project setup, Supports many platforms, languages and build tools, Easy to integrate into build process, Free and open source.

On the other hand, Automake is a Development product tagged with make, automake, build, gnu.

Its standout features include Automatically generates Makefile.am files from Makefile.in files, Supports automatic dependency tracking and parallel builds, Integrates with Autoconf to provide a full build environment, Supports various languages like C, C++, Fortran, Java, Objective-C, Handles library dependencies and subdirectories seamlessly, Allows overriding defaults and customization through config files, and it shines with pros like Saves time by automating Makefile creation, Promotes standardization and best practices for builds, Simplifies build configuration for large, complex projects, Easy to integrate with build tools like Autoconf and Libtool, Actively maintained and well-documented.

Feature	Premake	Automake
Overall Score	N/A	N/A
Primary Category	Development	Development

Product Overview

Premake

Description: Premake is an open-source build configuration tool for C++ projects across Windows, MacOS, and Linux. It automates the generation of project files and build scripts for Make, Visual Studio, Xcode, and other build systems.

Automake

Description: Automake is a tool for automatically generating Makefile.am files that comply with the GNU coding standards. It simplifies the creation and maintenance of Makefiles for complex software projects.

Key Features Comparison

Premake Features

• Generate project files for Visual Studio, Xcode, Make and others
• Support for C, C++, C#, Lua and other languages
• Cross-platform build configuration
• Command line and GUI interface
• Extensible Lua scripting
• Open source and free

Automake Features

• Automatically generates Makefile.am files from Makefile.in files
• Supports automatic dependency tracking and parallel builds
• Integrates with Autoconf to provide a full build environment
• Supports various languages like C, C++, Fortran, Java, Objective-C
• Handles library dependencies and subdirectories seamlessly
• Allows overriding defaults and customization through config files

Pros & Cons Analysis

Premake

Pros

• Automates and simplifies project configuration
• Saves time compared to manual project setup
• Supports many platforms, languages and build tools
• Easy to integrate into build process
• Free and open source

Cons

• Limited adoption outside of C/C++ projects
• Steep learning curve for Lua scripting
• Less flexibility than hand-written build scripts
• Limited IDE integration features
• Minimal documentation

Automake

Pros

• Saves time by automating Makefile creation
• Promotes standardization and best practices for builds
• Simplifies build configuration for large, complex projects
• Easy to integrate with build tools like Autoconf and Libtool
• Actively maintained and well-documented

Cons

• Yet another build tool to learn
• Limited flexibility compared to handwritten Makefiles
• Not as feature-rich as some alternatives like CMake
• Requires GNU build tools and may not work on all platforms
• Can have a steep learning curve

Pricing Comparison

Premake

• Open Source

Automake

• Open Source