build2 is an open source (MIT), cross-platform build toolchain that provides sufficient depth and flexibility to develop and package complex C/C++ projects. The toolchain is a hierarchy of tools consisting of a general-purpose build system, package manager (for package consumption), and project manager (for project development). This package contains the build2 build system.

For more information refer to the build2 home page and the build2 project organization on GitHub.

This README file contains information that is more appropriate for development or packaging of build2. If you simply want to install and use it, then rather refer to the installation instructions. Note also that the packaged development snapshots are available as well.

If you wish to package the toolchain (for example, for a Linux distribution), then the recommended starting point is the Toolchain Installation and Upgrade documentation.

Note that if you are only interested in packaging the build system, you could instead use the steps described in the accompanying INSTALL file.

Setting up the environment to develop the build2 toolchain itself is somewhat complicated because we use it for its own development and that often poses chicken-and-egg kinds of problems. For details see the How do I setup the build2 toolchain for development? HOWTO article.

Note also that if you are only interested in the build system, you could instead bootstrap the development setup using the steps described in the accompanying INSTALL file.