Re: Makefile or IDE?

From	Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid>
Newsgroups	comp.arch.embedded
Subject	Re: Makefile or IDE?
Date	2021-12-02 09:48 -0700
Organization	A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID	<soatd5$cet$1@dont-email.me> (permalink)
References	<soabn8$b4e$1@dont-email.me>

Show all headers | View raw

On 12/2/2021 4:46 AM, pozz wrote:
> When I download C source code (for example for Linux), most of the time I need 
> to use make (or autoconf).
> 
> In embedded world (no Linux embedded), we use MCUs produced by a silicon vendor 
> that give you at least a ready-to-use IDE (Elipse based or Visual Studio based 
> or proprietary). Recently it give you a full set of libraries, middlewares, 
> tools to create a complex project from scratch in a couple of minutes that is 
> compatibile and buildable with its IDE.
> 
> Ok, it's a good thing to start with a minimal effort and make some tests on EVB 
> and new chips. However I'm wondering if a good quality commercial/industrial 
> grade software is maintained under the IDE of the silicon vendor or it is 
> maintained with a Makefile (or similar).
> 
> I'm asking this, because I just started to add some unit tests (to run on the 
> host machine) on one of my projects that is built under the IDE. Without a 
> Makefile is very difficult to add a series of tests: do I create a different 
> IDE project for each module test?
> 
> Moreover, the build process of a project maintained under an IDE is manual 
> (click on a button). Most of the time there isn't the possibility to build by a 
> command line and when it is possible, it isn't the "normal" way.
> 
> Many times in the past I tried to write a Makefile for my projects, but 
> sincerely for me make tool is very criptic (tabs instead of spaces?). 
> Dependencies are a mess.
> 
> Do you use IDE or Makefile? Is there a recent and much better alternative to 
> make (such as cmake or SCons)?

Makefiles give you more control over the build/test/document process.
They're "code" of a different sort (and purpose).

Otherwise, you are left at the mercy of whoever designed/implemented
the tool(chain) you are using.

[I have makefiles that ship my sources off to other machines and
start builds, there, to verify that my code at least compiles
without warnings on different architectures -- before getting
to "invested" in the current state of the code]

There are tools that will help you create makefiles.
The biggest problem (with inheritted codebases) will be if you
have to use a particular "flavor" of make.  Or, some oddball
build *system*.  (converting from something like that to
a more "standardized" build environment can often be a
significant effort.  So, if the foreign codebase is something
that is still actively being maintained, you may choose to adopt
its oddball way of doing things to save yourself from having to
keep "porting" the build mechanism(s) over to "your" way of
doing things -- even if that is a friendlier environment!

Thread

Makefile or IDE? pozz <pozzugno@gmail.com> - 2021-12-02 12:46 +0100
  Re: Makefile or IDE? Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2021-12-02 15:22 +0000
    Re: Makefile or IDE? pozz <pozzugno@gmail.com> - 2021-12-02 17:34 +0100
      Re: Makefile or IDE? Tauno Voipio <tauno.voipio@notused.fi.invalid> - 2021-12-03 13:15 +0200
  Re: Makefile or IDE? Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> - 2021-12-02 09:48 -0700
  Re: Makefile or IDE? Stefan Reuther <stefan.news@arcor.de> - 2021-12-02 17:34 +0100
    Re: Makefile or IDE? pozz <pozzugno@gmail.com> - 2021-12-03 11:49 +0100
      Re: Makefile or IDE? Stefan Reuther <stefan.news@arcor.de> - 2021-12-03 18:27 +0100
    Re: Makefile or IDE? George Neuner <gneuner2@comcast.net> - 2021-12-04 14:37 -0500
  Re: Makefile or IDE? Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> - 2021-12-03 20:51 +0000
    Re: Makefile or IDE? Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2021-12-03 21:28 +0000
      Re: Makefile or IDE? George Neuner <gneuner2@comcast.net> - 2021-12-04 14:53 -0500
        Re: Makefile or IDE? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2021-12-04 22:17 +0100
          Re: Makefile or IDE? Stefan Reuther <stefan.news@arcor.de> - 2021-12-05 11:02 +0100
            Re: Makefile or IDE? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2021-12-05 13:16 +0100
        Re: Makefile or IDE? Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2021-12-06 13:52 +0000
          Re: Makefile or IDE? chris <chris-nospam@tridac.net> - 2021-12-17 17:19 +0000
  Re: Makefile or IDE? pozz <pozzugno@gmail.com> - 2021-12-03 23:48 +0100
    Re: Makefile or IDE? Stefan Reuther <stefan.news@arcor.de> - 2021-12-04 10:31 +0100
      Re: Makefile or IDE? pozz <pozzugno@gmail.com> - 2021-12-04 16:23 +0100
        Re: Makefile or IDE? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2021-12-04 17:41 +0100
          Re: Makefile or IDE? Tauno Voipio <tauno.voipio@notused.fi.invalid> - 2021-12-04 18:49 +0200
            Re: Makefile or IDE? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2021-12-04 18:23 +0100
              Re: Makefile or IDE? Tauno Voipio <tauno.voipio@notused.fi.invalid> - 2021-12-04 21:25 +0200
                Re: Makefile or IDE? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2021-12-04 22:20 +0100
                Re: Makefile or IDE? Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2021-12-06 13:51 +0000
                Re: Makefile or IDE? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2021-12-06 16:33 +0100
                Re: Makefile or IDE? Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2021-12-06 16:02 +0000
          Re: Makefile or IDE? pozz <pozzugno@gmail.com> - 2021-12-09 11:54 +0100
            Re: Makefile or IDE? Hans-Bernhard Bröker <HBBroeker@t-online.de> - 2021-12-10 18:35 +0100
              Re: Makefile or IDE? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2021-12-10 19:44 +0100
                Re: Makefile or IDE? pozz <pozzugno@gmail.com> - 2021-12-11 16:18 +0100
                Re: Makefile or IDE? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2021-12-11 17:06 +0100
                Re: Makefile or IDE? Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2021-12-11 16:57 +0000
                Re: Makefile or IDE? Hans-Bernhard Bröker <HBBroeker@t-online.de> - 2021-12-11 18:53 +0100
                Re: Makefile or IDE? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2021-12-12 14:15 +0100
              Re: Makefile or IDE? Stefan Reuther <stefan.news@arcor.de> - 2021-12-11 10:01 +0100
                Re: Makefile or IDE? Hans-Bernhard Bröker <HBBroeker@t-online.de> - 2021-12-11 18:47 +0100
                Re: Makefile or IDE? Stefan Reuther <stefan.news@arcor.de> - 2021-12-12 11:27 +0100
        Re: Makefile or IDE? Stefan Reuther <stefan.news@arcor.de> - 2021-12-05 11:11 +0100
          Re: Makefile or IDE? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2021-12-05 13:21 +0100
  Re: Makefile or IDE? Dave Nadler <drn@nadler.com> - 2021-12-06 15:45 -0500
  Re: Makefile or IDE? pozz <pozzugno@gmail.com> - 2021-12-09 10:43 +0100
  Re: Makefile or IDE? Johann Klammer <klammerj@NOSPAM.a1.net> - 2021-12-10 09:30 +0100
  Re: Makefile or IDE? chris <chris-nospam@tridac.net> - 2021-12-17 17:27 +0000
    Re: Makefile or IDE? StateMachineCOM <statemachineguru@gmail.com> - 2021-12-20 17:18 -0800
      Re: Makefile or IDE? chris <chris-nospam@tridac.net> - 2021-12-21 16:45 +0000
      Re: Makefile or IDE? Jim Jackson <jj@franjam.org.uk> - 2021-12-21 17:40 +0000
        Re: Makefile or IDE? StateMachineCOM <statemachineguru@gmail.com> - 2021-12-21 10:55 -0800

csiph-web