Meson is a project to create the best possible next-generation build system. It’s designed to be both as fast and as user friendly as possible. The main design point of Meson is that every moment a developer spends writing or debugging build definitions is a second wasted. So is every second spent waiting for the build system to actually start compiling code.
It supports many languages and compilers, including GCC, Clang, PGI, Intel, and Visual Studio. Its build definitions are written in a simple non-Turing complete DSL.
Meson is free and open source software.
Key Features
- Supported languages include C, C++, D, Fortran, Java, and Rust.
- Build definitions in a very readable and user friendly non-Turing complete DSL.
- Cross compilation for many operating systems as well as bare metal.
- Optimized for extremely fast full and incremental builds without sacrificing correctness.
- Built-in multiplatform dependency provider that works together with distro packages.
- Multiplatform support for Linux, macOS, Windows, GCC, Clang, Visual Studio and others
Website: mesonbuild.com
Support: GitHub Code Repository
Developer: Jussi Pakkanen and contributors
License: Apache License 2.0
Meson is written in Python. Learn Python with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Related Software
| Build Systems | |
|---|---|
| Cargo | Rust package manager |
| gulp | Toolkit to automate & enhance your workflow |
| Bazel | Build and test your multi-language, multi-platform projects |
| Apache Maven | Build automation tool used primarily for Java projects |
| Gradle | Build tool with a focus on build automation and support for multi-language |
| Meson | Next-generation build system |
| sbt | Extensible task and dependency tool for Scala projects |
| CMake | Family of tools designed to build, test and package software |
| Buck2 | Encourages the creation of small, reusable modules |
| Leiningen | Automating Clojure projects |
| Grunt | JavaScript Task Runner |
| Ninja | Small build system with a focus on speed |
| Mill | Fast, flexible task runner for JVM-based software projects |
| xmake | Cross-platform build utility based on Lua |
| SCons | Software construction tool |
| Pants | Scalable build system for monorepos |
| PHing | Build system based on Apache Ant |
| Please | Fast cross-language automation for large codebases |
| Rake | make-like build utility for Ruby |
| Apache Ant | Tool for automating software build processes |
| Rebar3 | Feature-rich project and dependency tool for Erlang applications |
| Cabal | Common Architecture for Building Applications and Libraries |
| FASTBuild | High-performance tool with caching and distributed processing |
| Dune | Composable project automation tailored to the OCaml ecosystem |
| build2 | Native cross-platform toolchain for C and C++ projects |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
 Explore our carefully curated directory of recommended free and open source software, covering every major software category.The directory forms part of our extensive collection of articles for Linux enthusiasts. It includes hundreds of detailed reviews, together with free and open source alternatives to proprietary software from companies such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk. LinuxLinks also covers interesting projects worth exploring, Linux-compatible hardware, free programming books and tutorials, and much more. Know a useful free and open source Linux application that we haven’t covered? Tell us about it using our submission form. |
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.