The GNU build system experience tutorial: Hello world example with Autoconf and automake

One 、 install GNU Build system

In the installation GNU Four software packages are introduced before building the system ：
Autoconf： Generate configure The configuration script ;
Automake： Generate makefile Templates ;
Libtool： Compile location independent code in a portable way and build shared libraries ;
Autotoolset： Generate all kinds of template files to help you develop all kinds of compliance GNU Code style portable source code .

Enter the following command to check if the latest version is installed ：

$ autoconf --version
$ automake --version
$ libtool --version

This tutorial uses Autoconf 2.69,Automake 1.15 and Libtool 2.4.6.
If the above software package is not available , Please install it by yourself .

Two 、 Create the required files

Create the following three files in an empty directory （ The download link will be given later ）：
hello.c

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
    printf("Howdy world!\n");
    return 0;
}

To compile C Language source file .

Makefile.am

bin_PROGRAMS = hello
hello_SOURCES = hello.c

The first line of the file specifies the name of the program , The second line specifies the path of the source code and the file name .

configure.ac

AC_INIT(hello,0.1)
AC_CONFIG_SRCDIR(hello.c)
AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE
AC_PROG_CC
AC_PROG_INSTALL
AC_OUTPUT(Makefile)

AC_INIT The macro initializes the configuration script , The first parameter specifies the name of the package , The second parameter specifies the version number of the package ;
AC_CONFIG_SRCDIR The macro specifies the path and file name of the source file ;
AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE Macro declaration by Automake Automatic generation Makefile.in file （ Now don't understand ）;
AC_PROG_CC The macro checks the compiler available to the system , If the source file is C++ Please use AC_PROG_CXX macro ;
AC_PROG_INSTALL Macro checks whether the system is installed BSD Compatible with installation tools （BSD compatible install utility）;
AC_OUTPUT The macro tells the installation script to start from Makefile.in File generation Makefile file .

3、 ... and 、 Enter the command to generate the package

Enter the following commands in order ：

$ aclocal
$ autoconf
$ touch README AUTHORS NEWS ChangeLog
$ automake -a
$ ./configure
$ make
$ ./hello

aclocal The command installs a program called aclocal.m4 The file of ;
autoconf Combination of orders aclocal.m4 Document and configure.ac File generation configure Script ;
touch The command is calling automake The command was created before, including READEME Several documents, including Automake Documents needed ;
automake The command checks whether the necessary files are missing and generates Makefile.in file ;
./configure Whether the command analysis system has installed the software and library that the software depends on ;
make Command compilation software ;
./hello Command execution procedure .

Then you can type # make install Command to install software , Input # make uninstall Command to uninstall the software .
Last input make distcheck Generate hello-0.1.tar.gz Release software .

Four 、 install 、 Use 、 Uninstall package

Enter the following commands in order ：

$ gunzip hello-0.1.tar.gz
$ tar xf hello-0.1.tar
$ cd hello-0.1
$ ./configure
$ make
# make install
$ ./hello
# make uninstall

This software package can be used without # make install And # make uninstall.
hello-0.1.tar.gz Download link ：
Hello world example with Autoconf and Automake.

5、 ... and 、 Further study

The following links are provided for further study Autotools And GNU Build system
GNU Automake
Autotools Tutorial for Beginners
The GNU configure and build system
Learning the GNU development tools