Please VS Autotools

• Performance
  Please build offers high performance build speeds, which can significantly reduce build times compared to other tools. This is achieved through parallel execution and efficient incremental builds.
• Flexibility
  Please is highly configurable and flexible, allowing developers to tailor the build system to fit a wide range of project requirements and workflows.
• Cross-platform
  It supports cross-platform builds, enabling developers to use a single build system for projects targeting multiple operating systems.
• Minimal Dependencies
  Please requires minimal external dependencies, which simplifies setup and reduces the potential for version conflicts and other dependency-related issues.
• Open Source
  As an open-source tool, Please allows users to inspect, modify, and contribute to the codebase, fostering a collaborative community environment.

Possible disadvantages

• Steep Learning Curve
  New users might find Please build's configuration and scripting style challenging to learn, especially if they are not familiar with build systems.
• Limited Ecosystem
  Compared to more established build tools, Please has a smaller ecosystem, which might result in fewer plugins, integrations, and community resources.
• Complex Configuration
  For certain projects, the configuration might become complex, requiring careful management to maintain readability and manageability of build scripts.
• Less Popular
  Please is not as widely adopted as some other build systems, potentially leading to fewer examples and support resources available online.

• Ubiquity
  Autotools is widely used and well-established in the open-source community, meaning many developers are already familiar with it, and a lot of robust documentation is available.
• Cross-Platform Support
  Autotools can generate makefiles for different Unix-like systems, enhancing compatibility across various environments.
• Comprehensive Configuration
  Autotools allows for complex configuration setups that can adapt to a wide range of environments, dependencies, and optional features.
• Powerful Macros
  The system provides a wide range of macros to test for header files, libraries, and functions, simplifying the portability process.

Possible disadvantages

• Complexity
  The toolchain can be quite complex, involving multiple components like aclocal, autoheader, and automake, which can be challenging for new users to grasp.
• Performance Overhead
  The configure scripts generated by Autotools can be quite large and slow to execute, which can be cumbersome in large projects.
• Steep Learning Curve
  Autotools requires understanding of various scripting languages and concepts, making it difficult for beginners to effectively use.
• Maintenance Difficulty
  Maintaining and updating Autotools scripts and macros can become difficult and error-prone, especially with larger codebases.

Chinese March: 请你检阅 - Please Review

More videos

No Autotools videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

• What I wish I knew about Python when I started

  Pip is a command line package manager that comes with Python, but it is definitely not the only package manager. Other tools like pipenv, poetry, pdm, conda, and even some third-party applications like please can all manage Python... - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago

• Top programming languages created in the 2010's on GitHub by stars

  I’m not sure a JS library qualifies as a PL. Or automation software (SoftStack). Or an API description language. Or a build system. Source: over 3 years ago

• Just Use a Monorepo

  Regarding your first point, a good alternative to Bazel is [Please][https://please.build/] - its build graph can solve exactly this problem in CI. - Source: Hacker News / almost 4 years ago

View more

Tracking Autotools since Mar 2021.