Building a C/C++ project without using Makefiles

Question

I have a project containing C/C++ files. I'd like to build it without using make. What are my options? I'd like cross platform solutions if possible.

Answer 1

I've used SCons and it is very good.

SCons is an Open Source software construction tool—that is, a next-generation build tool. Think of SCons as an improved, cross-platform substitute for the classic Make utility with integrated functionality similar to autoconf/automake and compiler caches such as ccache. In short, SCons is an easier, more reliable and faster way to build software.

I've also looked at cmake but have not seriously used it.

Answer 2

Well, you're always going to need some way to invoke the compiler. If it's a trivial project, you can usually just stick all the .C filenames on the command line of the compiler and get some kind of output.

Or you can use a batch file / shell script instead of a makefile, but it would be less 'cross-platform' than a makefile and much less useful.

You should probably explain your motivations more clearly.