“What to Expect from a Next-Generation C++ Build System”
summary
Argues for a native, C++-extensible build system and demonstrates build2 doing it: a mostly declarative language, uniform model, and concrete features — partially pre-process translation units to extract module imports and produce self‑sufficient units, precise token‑hash change detection that ignores whitespace/comments, and C++-implemented extensible core with custom rules. Shows distributed compilation by shipping preprocessed units + BMIs, parallel/incremental test execution, project import/composability, wildcards, cross‑compilation and real conversions (e.g., MySQL client).
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chapters (9)
- 0:00The case for a new build system
- 2:41Defining C++ community values
- 9:13Meta vs. native build systems
- 14:43Conceptual model vs. black box
- 19:14Tooling implementation and design
- 23:58Summary of build system goals
- 26:11Modern build system features
- 36:53Handling C++ modules and change
- 44:51Q&A and closing remarks
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