More Features and Benefits

Built-in Tool Probe

• Automatically probes build tools and configures build rules.

Portable Makefiles

• Run Makefiles across platforms/compilers without change.
• Consequence of high level assertions, feature-based tool probe, built-in tool knowledge.

Hierarchical Rule Management

• Makefile -> Project rules -> baserules
• Flexible rule distribution from multiple rule repositories.
• Fine-grained rule project and subsystem specific rule and variable overrides.
• Minimizes redundant rule specification and enhances portability.

Metarules; Metarule Closure

• Infer prerequisites and action by pattern.

Target Attributes

• Ability to associate arbitrary attributes to targets and then operate on targets accordingly.
• Attributes may associate to targets based upon target pattern.
• Persistent.
• Example: during scan, detect files containing specified token or that are empty and tag targets with attribute for later special processing.
• Attributes can drive pattern-directed rules on equal footing with file names/file suffixes.

Optimized Shell Interface

• Uses single persistent shell -- eliminates fork/exec overhead and allows more natural action block syntax and semantics.
• Generalizes naturally to distributed network shell execution leading to distributed builds.

Source in Multiple Directories

• Uses .SOURCE.suffix special atoms to define what directories to search for files ending with .suffix and .SOURCE for all files (with transparent viewpathing.)

State Variables

• Can have explicit and implicit dependencies on state variables.
• Can represent #define values such that changing a value will only recompile code using that #define.
• Can represent compiler name and/or compiler flags so changing compilers or flags can trigger recompilation.

Dependency Based Java Support

• Automatic dependency generation.
• Incremental dependency update.
• Dependency cycles and implicit targets.
• Batched compilations for improved performance.
• Concurrent and distributed build.
• Incremental global build.
• Incremental safe inside package local build.
• Simplified user interface.
• Full viewpathing support.
• Jar file creation.

Support for C++

• Handles compiler-specific header processing and template generation procedures.

Rule Based Concurrency Control

• The .SEMAPHORE special atom provides rule based concurrency control.

Makefiles up to 10x Shorter

• See 3 vs 22 line example

Code Instrumentation Support

• Support for the following intrumentation tools: Purify, Quantify, PureCoverage, Codewizard, Insure++, Sentinel.