The Meson Build System
http://mesonbuild.com/
You can not select more than 25 topics
Topics must start with a letter or number, can include dashes ('-') and can be up to 35 characters long.
148 lines
5.0 KiB
148 lines
5.0 KiB
--- |
|
title: Quickstart Guide |
|
short-description: Getting Started using Mesonbuild |
|
... |
|
|
|
# Using Meson |
|
|
|
Meson has been designed to be as simple to use as possible. This page |
|
outlines the initial steps needed for installation, troubleshooting, |
|
and standard use. |
|
|
|
For more advanced configuration please refer to the command line help `meson --help` |
|
or the Meson documentation located at the [Mesonbuild](https://mesonbuild.com) website. |
|
|
|
Table of Contents: |
|
* [Requirements](#requirements) |
|
* [Installation using package manager](#installation-using-package-manager) |
|
* [Installation using Python](#installation-using-python) |
|
* [Installation from source](#installation-from-source) |
|
* [Troubleshooting](#troubleshooting) |
|
* [Compiling a Meson project](#compiling-a-meson-project) |
|
* [Using Meson as a distro packager](#using-meson-as-a-distro-packager) |
|
|
|
Requirements |
|
-- |
|
|
|
* [Python 3](https://python.org) |
|
* [Ninja](https://github.com/ninja-build/ninja/) |
|
|
|
*Ninja is only needed if you use the Ninja backend. Meson can also |
|
generate native VS and XCode project files.* |
|
|
|
|
|
Installation using package manager |
|
-- |
|
|
|
Ubuntu: |
|
|
|
```console |
|
$ sudo apt-get install python3 python3-pip python3-setuptools \ |
|
python3-wheel ninja-build |
|
``` |
|
*Due to our frequent release cycle and development speed, distro packaged software may quickly become outdated.* |
|
|
|
Installation using Python |
|
-- |
|
Requirements: **pip3** |
|
|
|
The best way to receive the most up-to-date version of Mesonbuild. |
|
|
|
Install as a local user (recommended): |
|
```console |
|
$ pip3 install --user meson |
|
``` |
|
Install as root: |
|
```console |
|
$ pip3 install meson |
|
``` |
|
|
|
*If you are unsure whether to install as root or a local user, install as a local user.* |
|
|
|
|
|
Installation from source |
|
-- |
|
Requirements: **git** |
|
|
|
Meson can be run directly from the cloned git repository. |
|
|
|
```console |
|
$ git clone https://github.com/mesonbuild/meson.git /path/to/sourcedir |
|
``` |
|
Troubleshooting: |
|
-- |
|
Common Issues: |
|
```console |
|
$ meson builddir |
|
$ bash: /usr/bin/meson: No such file or directory |
|
``` |
|
Description: The default installation prefix for the python pip module installation is not included in your shell environment PATH. The default prefix for python pip installation modules is located under ``/usr/local``. |
|
|
|
**Resolution: |
|
This issue can be resolved by altering the default shell environment PATH to include ``/usr/local/bin``. ** |
|
|
|
*Note: There are other ways of fixing this issue such as using symlinks or copying the binaries to a default path and these methods are not recommended or supported as they may break package management interoperability.* |
|
|
|
|
|
Compiling a Meson project |
|
-- |
|
|
|
The most common use case of Meson is compiling code on a code base you |
|
are working on. The steps to take are very simple. |
|
|
|
```console |
|
$ cd /path/to/source/root |
|
$ meson builddir && cd builddir |
|
$ meson compile |
|
$ meson test |
|
``` |
|
|
|
The only thing to note is that you need to create a separate build |
|
directory. Meson will not allow you to build source code inside your |
|
source tree. All build artifacts are stored in the build |
|
directory. This allows you to have multiple build trees with different |
|
configurations at the same time. This way generated files are not |
|
added into revision control by accident. |
|
|
|
To recompile after code changes, just type `meson compile`. The build command |
|
is always the same. You can do arbitrary changes to source code and |
|
build system files and Meson will detect those and will do the right |
|
thing. If you want to build optimized binaries, just use the argument |
|
`--buildtype=debugoptimized` when running Meson. It is recommended |
|
that you keep one build directory for unoptimized builds and one for |
|
optimized ones. To compile any given configuration, just go into the |
|
corresponding build directory and run `meson compile`. |
|
|
|
Meson will automatically add compiler flags to enable debug |
|
information and compiler warnings (i.e. `-g` and `-Wall`). This means |
|
the user does not have to deal with them and can instead focus on |
|
coding. |
|
|
|
Using Meson as a distro packager |
|
-- |
|
|
|
Distro packagers usually want total control on the build flags |
|
used. Meson supports this use case natively. The commands needed to |
|
build and install Meson projects are the following. |
|
|
|
```console |
|
$ cd /path/to/source/root |
|
$ meson --prefix /usr --buildtype=plain builddir -Dc_args=... -Dcpp_args=... -Dc_link_args=... -Dcpp_link_args=... |
|
$ meson compile -C builddir |
|
$ meson test -C builddir |
|
$ DESTDIR=/path/to/staging/root meson install -C builddir |
|
``` |
|
|
|
The command line switch `--buildtype=plain` tells Meson not to add its |
|
own flags to the command line. This gives the packager total control |
|
on used flags. |
|
|
|
This is very similar to other build systems. The only difference is |
|
that the `DESTDIR` variable is passed as an environment variable |
|
rather than as an argument to `meson install`. |
|
|
|
As distro builds happen always from scratch, you might consider |
|
enabling [unity builds](Unity-builds.md) on your packages because they |
|
are faster and produce better code. However there are many projects |
|
that do not build with unity builds enabled so the decision to use |
|
unity builds must be done by the packager on a case by case basis.
|
|
|