Premake
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.
c
crossplatform
automation
Premake: Open-Source Build Configuration Tools
Automate project file generation and build script creation for C++ projects on Windows, MacOS, and Linux with Premake
What is Premake?
Premake is an open-source build configuration tool designed for C and C++ projects across Windows, MacOS, and Linux operating systems. It allows developers to define their project build configurations and rules in a portable script, which Premake then processes to generate the native project files and build scripts needed for the chosen platform and IDE.
Some key features and capabilities of Premake include:
- Automatically generates project files for Visual Studio, Xcode, Make, CMake, and other build systems
- Cross-platform support for Windows, MacOS, Linux, BSD, etc.
- Configuration using simple declarative Lua scripts
- Supports C, C++, C#, CUDA, and other languages
- Integrates with compilers like GCC, Clang, MSVC
- Active open-source development with frequent new releases
By moving the build configuration specifics into Premake scripts, developers can streamline the build system definition and maintenance for their cross-platform C/C++ projects. This makes supporting multiple platforms and IDEs easier by eliminating redundancy and rework. Premake is used by many popular C/C++ game engines, VR platforms, embedded systems, and open source projects.
Premake Features
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
Pricing
- Open Source
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
Official Links
The Best Premake Alternatives
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