Document how to handle changing build systems (#25174)

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@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ on these ideas for each distinct build system that Spack supports:
build_systems/intelpackage
build_systems/rocmpackage
build_systems/custompackage
build_systems/multiplepackage
For reference, the :py:mod:`Build System API docs <spack.build_systems>`
provide a list of build systems and methods/attributes that can be

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@ -0,0 +1,350 @@
.. Copyright 2013-2021 Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC and other
Spack Project Developers. See the top-level COPYRIGHT file for details.
SPDX-License-Identifier: (Apache-2.0 OR MIT)
.. _multiplepackage:
----------------------
Multiple Build Systems
----------------------
Quite frequently, a package will change build systems from one version to the
next. For example, a small project that once used a single Makefile to build
may now require Autotools to handle the increased number of files that need to
be compiled. Or, a package that once used Autotools may switch to CMake for
Windows support. In this case, it becomes a bit more challenging to write a
single build recipe for this package in Spack.
There are several ways that this can be handled in Spack:
#. Subclass the new build system, and override phases as needed (preferred)
#. Subclass ``Package`` and implement ``install`` as needed
#. Create separate ``*-cmake``, ``*-autotools``, etc. packages for each build system
#. Rename the old package to ``*-legacy`` and create a new package
#. Move the old package to a ``legacy`` repository and create a new package
#. Drop older versions that only support the older build system
Of these options, 1 is preferred, and will be demonstrated in this
documentation. Options 3-5 have issues with concretization, so shouldn't be
used. Options 4-5 also don't support more than two build systems. Option 6 only
works if the old versions are no longer needed. Option 1 is preferred over 2
because it makes it easier to drop the old build system entirely.
The exact syntax of the package depends on which build systems you need to
support. Below are a couple of common examples.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Makefile -> Autotools
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Let's say we have the following package:
.. code-block:: python
class Foo(MakefilePackage):
version("1.2.0", sha256="...")
def edit(self, spec, prefix):
filter_file("CC=", "CC=" + spack_cc, "Makefile")
def install(self, spec, prefix):
install_tree(".", prefix)
The package subclasses from :ref:`makefilepackage`, which has three phases:
#. ``edit`` (does nothing by default)
#. ``build`` (runs ``make`` by default)
#. ``install`` (runs ``make install`` by default)
In this case, the ``install`` phase needed to be overridden because the
Makefile did not have an install target. We also modify the Makefile to use
Spack's compiler wrappers. The default ``build`` phase is not changed.
Starting with version 1.3.0, we want to use Autotools to build instead.
:ref:`autotoolspackage` has four phases:
#. ``autoreconf`` (does not if a configure script already exists)
#. ``configure`` (runs ``./configure --prefix=...`` by default)
#. ``build`` (runs ``make`` by default)
#. ``install`` (runs ``make install`` by default)
If the only version we need to support is 1.3.0, the package would look as
simple as:
.. code-block:: python
class Foo(AutotoolsPackage):
version("1.3.0", sha256="...")
def configure_args(self):
return ["--enable-shared"]
In this case, we use the default methods for each phase and only override
``configure_args`` to specify additional flags to pass to ``./configure``.
If we wanted to write a single package that supports both versions 1.2.0 and
1.3.0, it would look something like:
.. code-block:: python
class Foo(AutotoolsPackage):
version("1.3.0", sha256="...")
version("1.2.0", sha256="...", deprecated=True)
def configure_args(self):
return ["--enable-shared"]
# Remove the following once version 1.2.0 is dropped
@when("@:1.2")
def patch(self):
filter_file("CC=", "CC=" + spack_cc, "Makefile")
@when("@:1.2")
def autoreconf(self, spec, prefix):
pass
@when("@:1.2")
def configure(self, spec, prefix):
pass
@when("@:1.2")
def install(self, spec, prefix):
install_tree(".", prefix)
There are a few interesting things to note here:
* We added ``deprecated=True`` to version 1.2.0. This signifies that version
1.2.0 is deprecated and shouldn't be used. However, if a user still relies
on version 1.2.0, it's still there and builds just fine.
* We moved the contents of the ``edit`` phase to the ``patch`` function. Since
``AutotoolsPackage`` doesn't have an ``edit`` phase, the only way for this
step to be executed is to move it to the ``patch`` function, which always
gets run.
* The ``autoreconf`` and ``configure`` phases become no-ops. Since the old
Makefile-based build system doesn't use these, we ignore these phases when
building ``foo@1.2.0``.
* The ``@when`` decorator is used to override these phases only for older
versions. The default methods are used for ``foo@1.3:``.
Once a new Spack release comes out, version 1.2.0 and everything below the
comment can be safely deleted. The result is the same as if we had written a
package for version 1.3.0 from scratch.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Autotools -> CMake
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Let's say we have the following package:
.. code-block:: python
class Bar(AutotoolsPackage):
version("1.2.0", sha256="...")
def configure_args(self):
return ["--enable-shared"]
The package subclasses from :ref:`autotoolspackage`, which has four phases:
#. ``autoreconf`` (does not if a configure script already exists)
#. ``configure`` (runs ``./configure --prefix=...`` by default)
#. ``build`` (runs ``make`` by default)
#. ``install`` (runs ``make install`` by default)
In this case, we use the default methods for each phase and only override
``configure_args`` to specify additional flags to pass to ``./configure``.
Starting with version 1.3.0, we want to use CMake to build instead.
:ref:`cmakepackage` has three phases:
#. ``cmake`` (runs ``cmake ...`` by default)
#. ``build`` (runs ``make`` by default)
#. ``install`` (runs ``make install`` by default)
If the only version we need to support is 1.3.0, the package would look as
simple as:
.. code-block:: python
class Bar(CMakePackage):
version("1.3.0", sha256="...")
def cmake_args(self):
return [self.define("BUILD_SHARED_LIBS", True)]
In this case, we use the default methods for each phase and only override
``cmake_args`` to specify additional flags to pass to ``cmake``.
If we wanted to write a single package that supports both versions 1.2.0 and
1.3.0, it would look something like:
.. code-block:: python
class Bar(CMakePackage):
version("1.3.0", sha256="...")
version("1.2.0", sha256="...", deprecated=True)
def cmake_args(self):
return [self.define("BUILD_SHARED_LIBS", True)]
# Remove the following once version 1.2.0 is dropped
def configure_args(self):
return ["--enable-shared"]
@when("@:1.2")
def cmake(self, spec, prefix):
configure("--prefix=" + prefix, *self.configure_args())
There are a few interesting things to note here:
* We added ``deprecated=True`` to version 1.2.0. This signifies that version
1.2.0 is deprecated and shouldn't be used. However, if a user still relies
on version 1.2.0, it's still there and builds just fine.
* Since CMake and Autotools are so similar, we only need to override the
``cmake`` phase, we can use the default ``build`` and ``install`` phases.
* We override ``cmake`` to run ``./configure`` for older versions.
``configure_args`` remains the same.
* The ``@when`` decorator is used to override these phases only for older
versions. The default methods are used for ``bar@1.3:``.
Once a new Spack release comes out, version 1.2.0 and everything below the
comment can be safely deleted. The result is the same as if we had written a
package for version 1.3.0 from scratch.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Multiple build systems for the same version
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
During the transition from one build system to another, developers often
support multiple build systems at the same time. Spack can only use a single
build system for a single version. To decide which build system to use for a
particular version, take the following things into account:
1. If the developers explicitly state that one build system is preferred over
another, use that one.
2. If one build system is considered "experimental" while another is considered
"stable", use the stable build system.
3. Otherwise, use the newer build system.
The developer preference for which build system to use can change over time as
a newer build system becomes stable/recommended.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Dropping support for old build systems
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
When older versions of a package don't support a newer build system, it can be
tempting to simply delete them from a package. This significantly reduces
package complexity and makes the build recipe much easier to maintain. However,
other packages or Spack users may rely on these older versions. The recommended
approach is to first support both build systems (as demonstrated above),
:ref:`deprecate <deprecate>` versions that rely on the old build system, and
remove those versions and any phases that needed to be overridden in the next
Spack release.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Three or more build systems
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
In rare cases, a package may change build systems multiple times. For example,
a package may start with Makefiles, then switch to Autotools, then switch to
CMake. The same logic used above can be extended to any number of build systems.
For example:
.. code-block:: python
class Baz(CMakePackage):
version("1.4.0", sha256="...") # CMake
version("1.3.0", sha256="...") # Autotools
version("1.2.0", sha256="...") # Makefile
def cmake_args(self):
return [self.define("BUILD_SHARED_LIBS", True)]
# Remove the following once version 1.3.0 is dropped
def configure_args(self):
return ["--enable-shared"]
@when("@1.3")
def cmake(self, spec, prefix):
configure("--prefix=" + prefix, *self.configure_args())
# Remove the following once version 1.2.0 is dropped
@when("@:1.2")
def patch(self):
filter_file("CC=", "CC=" + spack_cc, "Makefile")
@when("@:1.2")
def cmake(self, spec, prefix):
pass
@when("@:1.2")
def install(self, spec, prefix):
install_tree(".", prefix)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Additional examples
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
When writing new packages, it often helps to see examples of existing packages.
Here is an incomplete list of existing Spack packages that have changed build
systems before:
================ ===================== ================
Package Previous Build System New Build System
================ ===================== ================
amber custom CMake
arpack-ng Autotools CMake
atk Autotools Meson
blast None Autotools
dyninst Autotools CMake
evtgen Autotools CMake
fish Autotools CMake
gdk-pixbuf Autotools Meson
glib Autotools Meson
glog Autotools CMake
gmt Autotools CMake
gtkplus Autotools Meson
hpl Makefile Autotools
interproscan Perl Maven
jasper Autotools CMake
kahip SCons CMake
kokkos Makefile CMake
kokkos-kernels Makefile CMake
leveldb Makefile CMake
libdrm Autotools Meson
libjpeg-turbo Autotools CMake
mesa Autotools Meson
metis None CMake
mpifileutils Autotools CMake
muparser Autotools CMake
mxnet Makefile CMake
nest Autotools CMake
neuron Autotools CMake
nsimd CMake nsconfig
opennurbs Makefile CMake
optional-lite None CMake
plasma Makefile CMake
preseq Makefile Autotools
protobuf Autotools CMake
py-pygobject Autotools Python
singularity Autotools Makefile
span-lite None CMake
ssht Makefile CMake
string-view-lite None CMake
superlu Makefile CMake
superlu-dist Makefile CMake
uncrustify Autotools CMake
================ ===================== ================
Packages that support multiple build systems can be a bit confusing to write.
Don't hesitate to open an issue or draft pull request and ask for advice from
other Spack developers!

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@ -612,6 +612,7 @@ it executable, then runs it with some arguments.
installer = Executable(self.stage.archive_file)
installer('--prefix=%s' % prefix, 'arg1', 'arg2', 'etc.')
.. _deprecate:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Deprecating old versions