On 03/26/2011 04:08 PM, Gregory Crosswhite wrote:
Hey everyone,
Is there a reason why Boost uses Boost.Jam/Boost.Build for reasons other than tradition?
Boost.Build works great for those around here caring enough to maintain a build system for boost. Also it seams to work well enough that a new build system is not a top priority for people willing to do something about it. That said I think the fact that it is not as common and well known as some alternatives, and that it is missing some features people are expecting causes people to ask for CMake.
Does it have advantages over other build systems, in particular CMake (which I consider to be its main competitor)?
CMake is not a build system. CMake is a meta build system tool that takes a platform independent meta description of a build system and generate your platform specific build systems based on it. It seems CMake or CMake scripts needs a fair bit of tweaks to replace Boost.Build. Trying to make a Boost.Build killer out of CMake has taken years by some dedicated people around here, and they are clearly not done.
Are there many people/projects who use Boost.Jam/Boost.Build outside of Boost?
I have no idea, but there are some that enjoy its features - yes.
These questions are asked purely out of curiosity due to my ignorance of Boost.Jam/Boost.Build, not because I have an axe to grind.
In my opinion, I would like to see efforts to make boost build generate CMake scripts and/or visa versa. -- Bjørn