Simon Ask Ulsnes on 2025-01-11 presents Werk:

• Introducing Werk 💅: Explains why not use Make, just, or other tools.

  • Problems with Make: Can't use file names with spaces, interact badly with Windows filesystems, etc.
  • Problems with just: Can only run commands, non-portable with fancy stuff.
  • Problems with other tools: Ninja is too low-level, scons is clunky, rake doesn't work on Windows, etc.

• Overview: Parses Werkfile to build and run programs. Shows examples of building C program and Rust project.

  • Example C program: Demonstrates build recipes, command recipes, and string interpolation.
  • Example Rust project: Uses Cargo and depfiles.
• Remarks: In defense of getting sidetracked as it helps stay motivated and productive. Rust is used for the project and is helpful in managing parallelism and errors.
• The source code is on GitHub, and there's a README for more details.
• werk is alpha software, use at your own risk.

Werk features:

• A simplistic build system like make and a command runner like just.
• Easy to use and religiously portable.