Buildcpp: A Python Build System for C++ Projects

Buildcpp is a build tool that uses Python as the scripting language for C++ projects. Its minimalist design makes building C++ projects straightforward and efficient.

Installation

Buildcpp requires Python 3.7 or higher. You can download Python from python.org.
Once Python is installed, install Buildcpp via pip:

pip install buildcpp

Buildcpp also depends on CMake 3.15 or later, which you can download from cmake.org.
Under the hood, Buildcpp uses Python for front-end scripting and CMake as the back-end build engine.

Usage

Buildcpp is a Python package that provides a set of APIs for defining and building C++ projects.
To use it, simply create a Python script in your project directory and define your build using Buildcpp’s API. Running this script will execute the build.

While Buildcpp uses a script-based approach, the script itself resembles a configuration file. This design choice stems from the fact that C++ builds often involve numerous configuration options, which can become cumbersome in static configuration files.

Here’s a minimal example:

myproject.py

from buildcpp import Target, Builder, Scope
from pathlib import Path

# Get current directory
ROOT = Path(__file__).parent

# Define a build target
target = Target('main')\
    .add_sources(Scope.PRIVATE, ROOT / 'main.cpp')

if __name__ == '__main__':
    # Create a builder and compile the target
    builder = Builder()
    builder.attach(target)
    builder.build()

Even without prior Python experience, you can likely understand what’s happening if you’re familiar with C++.
The Target object is central to Buildcpp—it holds all the metadata needed for the build, much like a configuration file.