Re: [jamboost] Boost.Build and SCons

From: Steven Knight (knight_at_[hidden])
Date: 2004-12-22 07:20:38

Hi Pedro (et al.)--

One follow-on note here:

> many thanks for your support: it is very welcome and am looking forward 
> to try to contribute to enhance SCons as well.
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.
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> >> I really don't like SCons Enviroments because they are too cluttered
> >> with functions, are too unwieldy, load all tools by default, etc.
> >> So I prefer the second approach: it provides all the functionality 
> >> bjam
> >> provides (and more) and fits very well with BB's architecture.
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> > That said, I agree with you that SCons Environments have become too
> > heavyweight. To that extent, we will be cleaning up how Environments
> > handle Tools at some point in the (relatively near) future, after
> > 0.97 is out.

> > I'd be very interested if your project (or anyone else) came up
> > with some sort of "minimal Environment," for example, that still
> > made things build correctly. What I'd be inclined to do is fold
> > that into the SCons build engine itself, so there's a relatively
> > lightweight Environment base class appropriate for all interfaces,
> > and the "cluttered" Environment subclass(es) can be ignored by
> > interfaces like yours that don't need the extra stuff.

I just wanted to let you know that the weight-loss program for SCons
Environments has begun. I checked in a change yesterday that splits up
construction environments into a base class that just handles construction
variable substitution, and two differently flavored subclasses.

This change was driven by trying to cut down on copies of construction
environments, so there are still a lot of methods there, but it's a
first step towards what I hope will be an eventual refactoring of the
construction environment architecture to allow other interfaces (such
as Boost.Build) to only require the pieces they need.

Let me know whenever you get to the point of diving in to this level so we
can try to figure out how to further refactor the architecture. Thanks!

--SK