Automake

Automake
Aurelio A. Heckert · CC BY-SA 2.0 · source
Name	Automake
Developer	GNU Project
Released	1997
Programming language	Perl
Operating system	Unix-like
Genre	Build automation
License	GNU General Public License

Automake is a software tool for automatically generating Makefile templates that comply with the GNU Coding Standards. It was developed as part of the GNU Project and commonly used alongside Autoconf, Libtool, and other GNU build utilities to support portable compilation across diverse Unix-like systems such as Linux, FreeBSD, and NetBSD. Automake has influenced build systems used by Debian, Fedora, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and projects hosted on GNU Savannah and GitHub.

History

Automake originated in the late 1990s within the Free Software Foundation ecosystem, emerging alongside Autoconf to address repetitive Makefile maintenance in GNU and Free Software projects. Early contributors included developers associated with Richard Stallman's initiatives and maintainers from distributions such as Debian and Red Hat who sought consistent behavior across GNU/Linux, Solaris, and AIX. Over time Automake evolved through collaborations among maintainers active in GNOME, KDE, and X.Org Foundation projects, responding to requirements from large codebases like GCC and Binutils. The tool's development paralleled the rise of version control platforms such as CVS and later Git, shaping its adoption in projects like glibc and Perl.

Design and Features

Automake's design centers on generating portable Makefile.in templates from high-level Makefile.am descriptions, integrating with macro languages from Autoconf and utility scripts from Libtool. It provides standardized rules for building programs, libraries, and documentation used by projects such as Emacs, GIMP, and GNOME Shell, and supports features for test harnesses like those in GNU Automake-based suites and integration with continuous integration systems exemplified by Jenkins, Travis CI, and GitLab CI/CD. Features include automatic dependency tracking influenced by gcc behavior, support for internationalization workflows used by gettext, installation policies aligning with Filesystem Hierarchy Standard, and convenience targets modeled after practices in POSIX and IEEE guidelines. Automake is implemented in Perl and adheres to the GNU General Public License terms, facilitating its inclusion in distributions maintained by organizations like Canonical and SUSE.

Usage and Workflow

Typical workflows begin with a developer authoring a Makefile.am describing sources and targets, invoking Automake to produce a Makefile.in, and running ./configure generated by Autoconf to produce a final Makefile for use with make or gmake. This workflow is common in projects hosted on platforms such as SourceForge, Savannah, and GitHub, and used by downstream packagers in Debian Policy-driven packaging and RPM-based systems managed by Fedora Project packagers. Developers often integrate Automake into test-driven processes that reference tools like Autotest, CTest, and ecosystems of scripting languages such as Python, Ruby, and Perl for auxiliary tasks. Release engineering in projects like GCC and Binutils leverages Automake conventions for versioned builds, tarball creation, and distribution across mirrors operated by GNU and FreeBSD.

Integration with Autoconf and Automtools

Automake is designed to work tightly with Autoconf through m4 macro expansions and the use of configure.ac or configure.in files, producing consistent behavior across platforms like HP-UX, IRIX, and Mac OS X. It collaborates with Libtool to handle shared and static library portability in projects such as GTK+ and Qt, and forms part of the broader Autotools suite used by many Free Software Foundation projects. Integration points include macro files maintained in autoconf-archive, dependency on m4 macros familiar to contributors of GNU tools, and interoperability with packaging tools employed by Debian Developers and RPM packagers. The combined toolchain addresses ABI variations and linker idiosyncrasies encountered on platforms supported by vendors like IBM and Intel.

Compatibility and Portability

Automake emphasizes cross-platform compatibility for building software across Linux, BSD derivatives, and proprietary Unix systems such as Solaris and AIX. Portability is achieved through generated makefiles that abstract differences in compiler drivers like gcc and clang, linker behaviors from projects like Gold and ld, and filesystem layouts used by distributions including Debian, Arch Linux, and Gentoo. The tool provides mechanisms to conditionally handle platform-specific libraries and headers, coordinating with configuration checks authored for Autoconf and with policies upheld by organizations such as Open Source Initiative. Its portability model influenced alternative build systems used in large codebases such as Chromium and Mozilla.

Criticisms and Limitations

Critics point to Automake's complexity and steep learning curve compared with newer systems like CMake, Meson, and Bazel, and to the maintenance burden imposed by coupling among Autoconf, Libtool, and Automake. Build reproducibility concerns have been raised in contexts like continuous integration for projects hosted on GitHub and GitLab, and contributors to projects such as LibreOffice and Mozilla Firefox have sometimes migrated to alternative toolchains to simplify developer onboarding. Additional limitations include handling of non-C/C++ languages, integration overhead for large monorepos exemplified by Google-scale sources, and occasional incompatibilities with modern package managers developed by organizations like NixOS and Homebrew.

Category:Build automation