premake / premake/premake-core

Premake alternative to the CMake interface library

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Description

Is there a Premake alternative to the CMake concept of an 'interface' library?

An 'interface' library has the following properties when linking against it:

  • It adds whatever libraries are defined inside this 'interface' library (not the main advantage)
  • It adds whatever preprocessor macro's / conditions are set
  • It adds include paths
  • It adds link paths
  • .. probably more?

The main advantage I see with this is that we don't have to pollute the preprocessor macro's / include / link paths for all projects, just for the projects that need it.

Given this pseudo premake5.lua file:

project "gsl"
    kind "Interface"
    includedirs { "gsl/include" }
    defines { "HAS_GSL" }

project "example_1"
    kind "ConsoleApp"
    files { "main.cpp" }
    links { "gsl" }

project "example_2"
    kind "ConsoleApp"
    files { "main.cpp" }

This would mean that example_1 has the folder gsl/include added to the include paths, and the define HAS_GSL set.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

The issue names no repository files, tests, or entry points. Start by reviewing Premake's project and link handling against the described CMake interface-library behavior. Done means determining whether the requested target-scoped propagation of libraries, defines, include paths, and link paths is supported or defining the feature needed to provide it.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
cmake, lua
Domain
build-system
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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