#include "build.h"

Your build system is a C program v3.0.0

IncludeBuild is one header. Your build is a small C program that you compile once with the compiler you already have — after that it looks after itself. Underneath: parallel compilation, minimal rebuilds, a real target graph, and a built-in command line.

The Gist

#define IB_IMPLEMENTATION
#include "build.h"

int main(int argc, char** argv) {
    ib_init(argc, argv);
    ib_sources(ib_executable("app"), "**.c");
    return ib_build();
}

$ cc -o build build.c   # the first and last time you compile it yourself
$ ./build               # parallel, incremental debug build
$ ./build release       # optimized build in its own object tree
$ ./build run           # build the executable, then run it
$ ./build clean
$ ./build compdb        # compile_commands.json, kept fresh forever after
$ ./build help

Edit build.c and the next ./build recompiles and re-runs itself. Edit a header and exactly the right files rebuild. Change a flag and only what it touches recompiles — ./build -v tells you why each action ran.

What You Get

• Parallel compilation across all targets (-jN, defaults to your CPU count).
• Minimal rebuilds backed by compiler depfiles and remembered command lines.
• Executables, static and shared libraries, and ib_use(app, lib) to wire them together — link order, include propagation, and -fPIC handled.
• Globs with *, ?, and cross-directory **; patterns that match nothing are an error, not a silent no-op.
• Configuration as a struct — ib.cc = "clang"; — not thirty setters.
• A self-rebuilding build script and an always-current compile_commands.json.

Platform Support

GCC-compatible toolchains (gcc, clang, MinGW) on Linux, macOS, and Windows. Defaults honor $CC, $CXX, and $AR.

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