STBoyden / Ocean

A build system/project manager for C/C++

Disclaimer: this is a personal project that I spend my free time on.

"It's cute" - EntireTwix, 2021

Ocean is a project manager, similar to Rust's Cargo, for C and C++ written with Rust - that other systems programming language. The command syntax is very similar to that of Cargo's.

By default, Ocean will use gcc to compile C and C++ source files, outputting the executables to build/{mode}/{project_name}.

Table of contents

1. How to install
2. Requirements
3. Supported compilers
4. Features
5. Command help
   • build
   • clean
   • get
   • set
   • new
   • run
6. FAQ
   1. Are you making a package manager?
   2. How often do you plan on working on Ocean?
   3. Why use this over CMake or Premake?
7. To Do

Requirements

• rustc >= 1.46.0
• One of the supported compilers

Supported compilers

Officially supported compilers:

• GNU C Compiler (GCC)
• Clang

How to install

1. Make sure you have Cargo and Rust installed: https://rustup.rs/.
2. From a command line, enter the following command: cargo install --git https://github.com/STBoyden/ocean.
3. Done!

Make sure to use ocean --help if you're not sure how to use this application.

Features

• The ability to build and run your project with a single command.
• Easy syntax - designed to be similar to Rust's Cargo.
• Easy setup - all the available options that can be changed in Ocean.toml can also be changed through the commands.
• Small project preparation time - can get your C/C++ project up and running in only a few seconds (with optional config arguments for multiple editors of your choice).

Command help

Usage: ocean [OPTION]

Create and manage C and C++ projects.

    build           Builds the current project
    clean           Cleans the current project's build artifacts
    get             Returns the values set in the Ocean.toml
    set             Sets the values inside Ocean.toml
    help, --help    Shows this help text
    new             Creates a new C/C++ project in a new directory
    run             Runs the current project, builds if no build is present

build

Usage: ocean build [OPTIONS]

By default, this builds projects in debug mode.

Options:
    -d, --debug     Builds the current project in debug mode (this is turned on by default)
    -r, --release   Builds the current project in release mode
    -v, --verbose   Makes the compiler output verbose.
    -f, --flags     Passes custom flags to the compiler.

get

Usage: ocean get [KEY]

This gets the current values inside the Ocean project file related to a datakey entered by the user.

Option:
    build_dir                       Prints the build directory for the current project.
    c++_compiler, cxx_compiler      Prints the compiler being used for the C++ project.
    c_compiler                      Prints the compiler being used for the C project.
    compiler, current_compiler      Prints the current compiler being used for the project.
    flags                           Prints the flags of the current compiler.
    lang, language                  Prints the current language of the project.
    lib_dirs, library_directories   Prints the library directories that would be searched by the linker.
    libs, libraries                 Prints the libraries being compiled with the project.  
    name                            Prints the name of the project.
    object_dir                      Prints the object output directory.
    source_dir                      Prints the source code directory.

set

Usage: ocean set [KEY]

This set values inside the Ocean project file to a value specified by the user.

Option:
    build_dir [DIRECTORY]                               Sets the build directory for the project.
    c++_compiler [COMPILER], cxx_compiler [COMPILER]    Set the compiler being used for the C++ project.
    c_compiler [COMPILER]                               Sets the compiler being used for the C project.
    compiler [COMPILER], current_compiler [COMPILER]    Sets the current compiler being used for the project.
    flags [FLAGS]                                       Sets the flags of the current compiler, split by commas.
    lang [LANG], language [LANG]                        Set the current language of the project.
    lib_dirs [DIRS], library_directories [DIRS]         Sets the library directories that would be searched by the linker, split by commas.
    libs [LIBS], libraries [LIBS]                       Sets the libraries being compiled with the project, split by commas.
    name [NAME]                                         Sets the name of the project.
    object_dir [DIRECTORY]                              Sets the object output directory.
    source_dir [DIRECTORY]                              Sets the source code directory.

new

Usage: ocean new [NAME] [OPTIONS]

This creates a new project with a generated Ocean.toml in a new directory with a specified NAME.
Options:
    -C                  Creates a new C project (default).
    -CXX                Creates a new C++ project.
    -b, --build-dir     Sets the build directory (default is "./build")
    -s, --source-dir    Sets the source directory (default is "./src")
    -o, --obj-dir       Sets the objects directory (default is "./obj")
    -c, --compiler      Sets the compiler for the current project (default is gcc for C and g++ for C++).
    --ccls              Outputs a .ccls file to be used with ccls. Allows a language server to be used with an editor like Vim, for example.
    --vscode            Outputs Visual Studio Code config files to make writing C/C++ easier.

run

Usage: ocean run [OPTIONS]

By default, this run projects in debug mode.

Options:
    -d, --debug     Runs the current project in debug mode (this is turned on by default)
    -r, --release   Runs the current project in release mode
    -v, --verbose   Makes the compiler output verbose.
    -f, --flags     Passes custom flags to the compiler.

FAQ

Q: Are you making a package manager?

A: Not yet. I am considering making a package manager but I have not decided fully. Either way, this will be decided at a later date.

Q: How often do you plan on working on Ocean?

A: Seeing as this is a personal side project, I will spend time on it when I please but probably quite often. I do have a job so that will take priority.

Q: Why use this over CMake, Premake (etc.)?

A: At least for me personally, using Ocean takes less time to get things set up over something like CMake and Premake. Especially for smaller projects where I just want to prototype something quickly and easily without having to mess around in a CMakeLists.txt. However, Ocean is not a replacement for either CMake or Premake and is not intended to.

To Do

• [ ] Use cc crate instead of manually calling the compiler commands.
  • Won't work for creating executables but might be able to used for creating libraries.
• [ ] Use clap or structopt to parse arguments.
• [ ] Work on incremental builds:
  • Look into Go's build cache.
• [ ] Provide examples of Ocean usage with varying degree of project size (in progress).