Building with Ninja - Revision history

Nyamoru: /* Building with Ninja on Windows */

2025-05-24T20:27:41Z

Building with Ninja on Windows

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:27, 24 May 2025
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	Configuring incomplete, errors occurred!		Configuring incomplete, errors occurred!
			Turns out that while CMake's Ninja generator expects it's environment variables and compilers to be set-up globally (like on many UNIX systems), Visual Studio relies on local environments invoked by the IDE for it's build system. Thankfully this environment can be invoked into a CLI session using a Batch script installed alongside Visual Studio. As Visual Studio natively supports CMake in it's own way, this means the necessary environment variables can be passed to CMake from within Visual Studios developer CLI environment. This workflow is less seamless than having your tools installed globally, but it can still be common practise in some fields (e.g. [https://docs.python.org/3/library/venv.html among Python developers]):
			C:\Path\to\Weissblatt> call "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\<version>\Community\VC\Auxiliary\Build\vcvars64.bat"
			C:\Path\to\Weissblatt> cmake -G Ninja
			<small>(Reference: https://discourse.cmake.org/t/best-practice-for-ninja-build-visual-studio/4653)</small>

	== Results ==		== Results ==

Nyamoru: /* Ninja compared to Make for building Weissblatt */

2025-05-24T19:44:32Z

Ninja compared to Make for building Weissblatt

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:44, 24 May 2025
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	# Although building with a working Makefile is simple on UNIX-like systems, Make's dependency on a UNIX-like environment makes cross-platform development difficult. Ideally, the game's main build system should be system-agnostic to ease maintenance.		# Although building with a working Makefile is simple on UNIX-like systems, Make's dependency on a UNIX-like environment makes cross-platform development difficult. Ideally, the game's main build system should be system-agnostic to ease maintenance.
	# To alleviate the problem described in 2), the Windows build system already relies on CMake separately of the Makefile for UNIX builds. Since CMake is already considered standard tooling in modern C/C++ development - especially for cross-platform development - CMake poses an easy to implement, system-agnostic alternative to the current Makefile system.		# To alleviate the problem described in 2), the Windows build system already relies on CMake separately of the Makefile for UNIX builds. Since CMake is already considered standard tooling in modern C/C++ development - especially for cross-platform development - CMake poses an easy to implement, system-agnostic alternative to the current Makefile system.
	Ninja is particularly noteworthy here because it is explicitly designed to have it's build files generated by higher order build systems and is thus well integrated into the already-used CMake. Thus instead of shipping the repository with a single unified and hard to maintain Makefile to build the game on all systems, the game's potential future build system shifts towards relying on the already cross-platform CMake to generate Ninja build files ~~for~~ each developer's individual development system.		Ninja is particularly noteworthy here because it is explicitly designed to have it's build files generated by higher order build systems and is thus well integrated into the already-used CMake. Thus instead of shipping the repository with a single unified and hard to maintain Makefile to build the game on all systems, the game's potential future build system shifts towards relying on the already cross-platform CMake to generate Ninja build files tailored to each developer's individual development system.

	== CMake in action - Generating Ninja files ==		== CMake in action - Generating Ninja files ==

Nyamoru: /* Ninja compared to Make for building Weissblatt */

2025-05-24T19:43:53Z

Ninja compared to Make for building Weissblatt

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:43, 24 May 2025
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	Traditionally Weissblatt's engine used to be built using [[wikipedia:Make_(software)\|Make]], the traditional UNIX build system for C/C++ programs. However, there are multiple reasons to consider migrating to a more modern build system:		Traditionally Weissblatt's engine used to be built using [[wikipedia:Make_(software)\|Make]], the traditional UNIX build system for C/C++ programs. However, there are multiple reasons to consider migrating to a more modern build system:

	# The engine's Makefile has grown large, complex and hard to maintain over the years. Ninja is both brutally simple in it's architecture and doesn't assume human authorship from the get-go. As long as a good higher-level build system is used to generate Ninja files, maintenance of the build system should be trivial.		# The engine's Makefile has grown large, complex and hard to maintain over the years.
	# Although building with a working Makefile is simple on UNIX-like systems, Make's dependency on a UNIX-like environment makes cross-platform development difficult. ~~Letting a higher-order~~ build system ~~generate~~ system-~~appropriate Ninja files may both abstract the system's build tooling~~ to ~~developers and better tailor the build process towards each individual system~~.		# Although building with a working Makefile is simple on UNIX-like systems, Make's dependency on a UNIX-like environment makes cross-platform development difficult. Ideally, the game's main build system should be system-agnostic to ease maintenance.
	# To alleviate the problem described in 2), the Windows build system already relies on CMake separately of the Makefile for UNIX builds. Since CMake already ~~supports generating Ninja files and is generally~~ considered standard tooling in modern C/C++ development, a ~~simple adaptation of Weissblatt~~'s CMake ~~toolchain could render a~~ Ninja~~-based~~ build ~~toolchain easy to implement~~.		# To alleviate the problem described in 2), the Windows build system already relies on CMake separately of the Makefile for UNIX builds. Since CMake is already considered standard tooling in modern C/C++ development - especially for cross-platform development - CMake poses an easy to implement, system-agnostic alternative to the current Makefile system.
			Ninja is particularly noteworthy here because it is explicitly designed to have it's build files generated by higher order build systems and is thus well integrated into the already-used CMake. Thus instead of shipping the repository with a single unified and hard to maintain Makefile to build the game on all systems, the game's potential future build system shifts towards relying on the already cross-platform CMake to generate Ninja build files for each developer's individual development system.

	== CMake in action - Generating Ninja files ==		== CMake in action - Generating Ninja files ==

37.201.192.160: /* Building with Ninja on Windows */

2025-05-24T18:46:10Z

Building with Ninja on Windows

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:46, 24 May 2025
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	=== Building with Ninja on Windows ===		=== Building with Ninja on Windows ===
	As Windows lacks built-in development tools. Thankfully both CMake and Ninja were easily installable through [https://learn.microsoft.com/windows/package-manager/winget/ WinGet] and were readily available as CLI tools right after. As getting [https://gcc.gnu.org/ GCC] to run on Windows is an ordeal in itself, most Windows developers usually rely on either [https://clang.llvm.org/ Clang] or more commonly Microsoft's own MSVC compiler - part of Microsofts larger set of [https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/downloads/ Visual Studio build tools].		As Windows lacks built-in development tools, CMake, Ninja and a suitable compiler needed to be installed onto the system first. Thankfully both CMake and Ninja were easily installable through [https://learn.microsoft.com/windows/package-manager/winget/ WinGet] and were readily available as CLI tools right after. As getting [https://gcc.gnu.org/ GCC] to run on Windows is an ordeal in itself, most Windows developers usually rely on either [https://clang.llvm.org/ Clang] or more commonly Microsoft's own MSVC compiler - part of Microsofts larger set of [https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/downloads/ Visual Studio build tools].

	Initially trying to configure the CMake project failed, as CMake could not find the system's C/C++ compiler:		Initially trying to configure the CMake project failed, as CMake could not find the system's C/C++ compiler:

Nyamoru: Add CMake configure error

2025-05-24T16:16:31Z

Add CMake configure error

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:16, 24 May 2025
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	Initially trying to configure the CMake project failed, as CMake could not find the system's C/C++ compiler:		Initially trying to configure the CMake project failed, as CMake could not find the system's C/C++ compiler:
			The C compiler identification is unknown
			The CXX compiler identification is unknown
			CMake Error at CMakeLists.txt:18 (project):
			No CMAKE_C_COMPILER could be found.

			Tell CMake where to find the compiler by setting either the environment
			variable "CC" or the CMake cache entry CMAKE_C_COMPILER to the full path to
			the compiler, or to the compiler name if it is in the PATH.

			CMake Error at CMakeLists.txt:18 (project):
			No CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER could be found.

			Tell CMake where to find the compiler by setting either the environment
			variable "CXX" or the CMake cache entry CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER to the full path
			to the compiler, or to the compiler name if it is in the PATH.

			Configuring incomplete, errors occurred!

	== Results ==		== Results ==

Nyamoru: /* Basic Windows process */

2025-05-24T16:14:58Z

Basic Windows process

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:14, 24 May 2025
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	== CMake in action - Generating Ninja files ==		== CMake in action - Generating Ninja files ==

	~~=== Building with Ninja on Windows ===~~
	~~TBA~~

	=== Building with Ninja on Linux ===		=== Building with Ninja on Linux ===
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	The initial CMake system also required CMake's GUI tool to set the environment variables and generate the Ninja build tree. Ideally, a build process using a configuration file such as <code>.env</code> or <code>.config</code> could suit a more iterative development approach. This could be useful, as Ninja expects developers to keep regenerating Ninja files whenever the structure of the codebase changes - be it changed environment variables, added/deleted files or whatever else isn't directly concerned with compiling the code.		The initial CMake system also required CMake's GUI tool to set the environment variables and generate the Ninja build tree. Ideally, a build process using a configuration file such as <code>.env</code> or <code>.config</code> could suit a more iterative development approach. This could be useful, as Ninja expects developers to keep regenerating Ninja files whenever the structure of the codebase changes - be it changed environment variables, added/deleted files or whatever else isn't directly concerned with compiling the code.

			=== Building with Ninja on Windows ===
			As Windows lacks built-in development tools. Thankfully both CMake and Ninja were easily installable through [https://learn.microsoft.com/windows/package-manager/winget/ WinGet] and were readily available as CLI tools right after. As getting [https://gcc.gnu.org/ GCC] to run on Windows is an ordeal in itself, most Windows developers usually rely on either [https://clang.llvm.org/ Clang] or more commonly Microsoft's own MSVC compiler - part of Microsofts larger set of [https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/downloads/ Visual Studio build tools].

			Initially trying to configure the CMake project failed, as CMake could not find the system's C/C++ compiler:


	== Results ==		== Results ==

Nyamoru: /* Building with Ninja on Linux */

2025-05-22T21:57:33Z

Building with Ninja on Linux

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:57, 22 May 2025
Line 20:		Line 20:

	=== Building with Ninja on Linux ===		=== Building with Ninja on Linux ===
	~~TBA~~		Initially building on Linux using Ninja worked just fine. After configuring and generating a Ninja build tree using the CMake GUI, running Ninja from within that tree (per-default under <code>build/ninja-release</code>) seemed to have compiled a development version of the game without problem.

			However, the general CMake infrastructure seemed complex with nested breakout files for toolchains and dependencies. How much of that is due to how the engine's build system is structured and how much is inherent to working with CMake is unclear.

			The initial CMake system also required CMake's GUI tool to set the environment variables and generate the Ninja build tree. Ideally, a build process using a configuration file such as <code>.env</code> or <code>.config</code> could suit a more iterative development approach. This could be useful, as Ninja expects developers to keep regenerating Ninja files whenever the structure of the codebase changes - be it changed environment variables, added/deleted files or whatever else isn't directly concerned with compiling the code.

	== Results ==		== Results ==

Nyamoru at 22:34, 19 May 2025

2025-05-19T22:34:21Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:34, 19 May 2025
Line 1:		Line 1:
	[https://ninja-build.org/manual.html Ninja] is a build system [https://neugierig.org/software/chromium/notes/2011/02/ninja.html originally developed for Google Chrome] and designed towards low build times for complex projects. It was designed with three		[https://ninja-build.org/manual.html Ninja] is a build system [https://neugierig.org/software/chromium/notes/2011/02/ninja.html originally developed for Google Chrome] and designed towards low build times for complex projects. It was designed with three goals in-mind:

			# Ninja is supposed to be ''fast''. Build processes are heavily parallelized where possibe.
	# Ninja files are meant to be computer-generated using higher order build systems such as [https://cmake.org/ CMake]		# Ninja files are meant to be computer-generated using higher order build systems such as [https://cmake.org/ CMake]
	# Ninja itself is "painfully simple". There is "very little policy" in the build process and Ninja requires comparatively explicit build definitions.		# Ninja itself is "painfully simple". There is "very little policy" in the build process and Ninja requires comparatively explicit build definitions.

	This article explores the possibility for an alternative build system for Weissblatt based on Ninja		This article explores the possibility for an alternative build system for Weissblatt based on Ninja to hopefully simplify and future-proof the engine's overall build process - especially in regards to multi-platform support and Windows builds.

	== Ninja compared to Make for building Weissblatt ==		== Ninja compared to Make for building Weissblatt ==

Nyamoru: Created page with "[https://ninja-build.org/manual.html Ninja] is a build system [https://neugierig.org/software/chromium/notes/2011/02/ninja.html originally developed for Google Chrome] and designed towards low build times for complex projects. It was designed with three # Ninja files are meant to be computer-generated using higher order build systems such as [https://cmake.org/ CMake] # Ninja itself is "painfully simple". There is "very little policy" in the build process and Ninja req..."

2025-05-19T22:29:37Z

Created page with "[https://ninja-build.org/manual.html Ninja] is a build system [https://neugierig.org/software/chromium/notes/2011/02/ninja.html originally developed for Google Chrome] and designed towards low build times for complex projects. It was designed with three # Ninja files are meant to be computer-generated using higher order build systems such as [https://cmake.org/ CMake] # Ninja itself is "painfully simple". There is "very little policy" in the build process and Ninja req..."

New page

[https://ninja-build.org/manual.html Ninja] is a build system [https://neugierig.org/software/chromium/notes/2011/02/ninja.html originally developed for Google Chrome] and designed towards low build times for complex projects. It was designed with three

# Ninja files are meant to be computer-generated using higher order build systems such as [https://cmake.org/ CMake]
# Ninja itself is "painfully simple". There is "very little policy" in the build process and Ninja requires comparatively explicit build definitions.

This article explores the possibility for an alternative build system for Weissblatt based on Ninja

== Ninja compared to Make for building Weissblatt ==
Traditionally Weissblatt's engine used to be built using [[wikipedia:Make_(software)|Make]], the traditional UNIX build system for C/C++ programs. However, there are multiple reasons to consider migrating to a more modern build system:

# The engine's Makefile has grown large, complex and hard to maintain over the years. Ninja is both brutally simple in it's architecture and doesn't assume human authorship from the get-go. As long as a good higher-level build system is used to generate Ninja files, maintenance of the build system should be trivial.
# Although building with a working Makefile is simple on UNIX-like systems, Make's dependency on a UNIX-like environment makes cross-platform development difficult. Letting a higher-order build system generate system-appropriate Ninja files may both abstract the system's build tooling to developers and better tailor the build process towards each individual system.
# To alleviate the problem described in 2), the Windows build system already relies on CMake separately of the Makefile for UNIX builds. Since CMake already supports generating Ninja files and is generally considered standard tooling in modern C/C++ development, a simple adaptation of Weissblatt's CMake toolchain could render a Ninja-based build toolchain easy to implement.

== CMake in action - Generating Ninja files ==

=== Building with Ninja on Windows ===
TBA

=== Building with Ninja on Linux ===
TBA

== Results ==

== Discussion ==
[[Category:Research and Development]]