Re: [Boost-users] Scons users?

From: Foster Gareth (gareth.foster_at_[hidden])
Date: 2005-09-13 11:36:48

How does scons fair in terms of pulling in other libraries? I have used
Autotools and using anything from there that doesn't have pkg-config support
(like boost, opengl etc) is a nightmare. 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jon Stewart [mailto:stew1_at_[hidden]] 
> Sent: 13 September 2005 17:30
> To: boost-users_at_[hidden]
> Subject: Re: [Boost-users] Scons users?
> 
> > On the Boost.Build list we were just discussing the fact that some
> > people otherwise inclined towards Boost have chosen Scons over
> > Boost.Build.  It would be useful for us to understand some of the
> > reasons why, if some of you wouldn't mind letting us know.  
> No flames,
> > please!
> 
> 
> I have been using Scons more for tiny projects* than for 
> large ones, and I 
> am still somewhat ignorant about Boost.Build, so I can't give a fair 
> comparison. But people aren't fair, so I think the data 
> points are still 
> valid:
> 
> 1. Scons is a nice framework embedded in a general purpose 
> programming language. So, you get the benefit of a DSL that 
> does 80% of 
> the job very nicely, but you've got all that is Python for 
> the 20% that 
> doesn't fit -- and the two parts integrate naturally. I moved 
> from Ant to 
> Scons and liked that Scons provided lots of high-level 
> functionality but 
> didn't straightjacket me into abstractions that didn't fit my 
> situation.
> 
> 2. My standard SConstruct file is 4 lines (2 imports, 2 
> statements). I get 
> a full dependency analysis, can make full use of ccache and 
> distcc, and 
> run my unit tests after the build. I can't imagine life being 
> better. :-)
> 
> 3. Boost.Build started out life as a fork (right?), and I 
> haven't noticed 
> many other projects outside of Boost using it. Scons seems to 
> have more 
> "momentum".
> 
> 4. Boost.Build docs don't/didn't offer the trivial example of how 
> to get "Hello, World" to build. Compare:
> 
> http://www.boost.org/tools/build/v1/build_system.htm#getting_started
> 
> with:
> 
> http://www.scons.org/doc/HTML/scons-user.html#AEN239
> 
> 5. A fair amount of traffic on this list seems to be from 
> people who have 
> trouble with Boost.Build. Of course, I'm not subscribed to 
> the scons users 
> list so this isn't fair, but my perception was that 
> Boost.Build would have 
> a steeper learning curve.
> 
> I'm sure Boost.Build is a powerful system and can do the 
> job... it just 
> seemed to require more thought to get running the first time, 
> and I wanted 
> to devote my thought to writing code.
> 
> Hope this helps,
> 
> 
> Jon
> 
> * The majority of my tiny projects are stub programs to play 
> around with 
> all the other Boost libraries! :-)
> -- 
> Jon Stewart
> stew1_at_[hidden]
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