3 min read #make #cmake #meson #build-systems #pkg-config #c #cpp #systems-programming #Toolchain and Compilation

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Make / CMake / Meson Build Systems

Coverage: GNU Make (pattern rules) → CMake (target-based) → Meson (declarative) → pkg-config → Build system selection Applicable to: C/C++ project builds

GNU Make

Core Syntax

# Basic rule: target: prerequisites → recipe
prog: main.o lib.o
    gcc -o $@ $^            # $@=target, $^=all prerequisites

%.o: %.c                    # pattern rule
    gcc -c -o $@ $<         # $<=first prerequisite

# Variables:
CC := gcc
CFLAGS := -O2 -Wall
LDFLAGS := -lm

# Automatic dependency generation:
%.d: %.c
    gcc -MM -MF $@ $<
-include $(OBJS:.o=.d)     # include dependency files

CMake: Target-Based

# CMakeLists.txt
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.16)
project(myproj C)

add_library(mylib STATIC lib.c lib.h)
target_compile_features(mylib PRIVATE c_std_11)

add_executable(prog main.c)
target_link_libraries(prog PRIVATE mylib)

# Find external dependencies:
find_package(PkgConfig REQUIRED)
pkg_check_modules(ZLIB REQUIRED zlib)
target_link_libraries(prog PRIVATE ${ZLIB_LIBRARIES})
target_include_directories(prog PRIVATE ${ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIRS})

Meson: Declarative

# meson.build
project('myproj', 'c', version: '1.0')

zlib_dep = dependency('zlib')

mylib = static_library('mylib', 'lib.c', 'lib.h')
executable('prog', 'main.c',
           link_with: mylib,
           dependencies: zlib_dep,
           c_args: ['-O2', '-Wall'])

Comparison of the Three

	GNU Make	CMake	Meson
Model	imperative (how to do it)	target-based	declarative (what is needed)
Dependency Management	Manual	find_package + pkg-config	Built-in dependency()
Compilation Speed	Baseline	Slow (configure phase)	Fast (ninja + caching)
Learning Curve	Medium	Medium-High	Low
IDE Integration	Weak	Strong (CLion, VSCode)	Medium
Gentoo ebuild	Common	Common	Increasing

pkg-config

# Query installed libraries:
pkg-config --cflags --libs zlib     # -I/usr/include -lz
pkg-config --modversion zlib         # 1.2.13

# .pc file locations:
ls /usr/lib64/pkgconfig/   # system libraries
ls /usr/share/pkgconfig/   # arch-independent

# Custom .pc file:
prefix=/usr/local
Name: mylib
Version: 1.0
Cflags: -I${prefix}/include
Libs: -L${prefix}/lib -lmylib

References

Documentation: info make, cmake.org/documentation, mesonbuild.com
Gentoo: man 5 ebuild (Make integration)

Keywords: Make, CMake, Meson, pattern rule, target-based, pkg-config, ninja