File: README

# README

Path: | README
Last Update: | Fri Sep 01 18:00:54 MDT 2006

# RAKE — Ruby Make

Supporting Rake version: 0.7.x

This package contains Rake, a simple ruby build program with capabilities similar to make.

Rake has the following features:

- Rakefiles (rake’s version of Makefiles) are completely defined in standard Ruby syntax. No XML files to edit. No quirky Makefile syntax to worry about (is that a tab or a space?)
- Users can specify tasks with prerequisites.
- Rake supports rule patterns to sythesize implicit tasks.
- Flexible FileLists that act like arrays but know about manipulating file names and paths.
- A library of prepackaged tasks to make building rakefiles easier.

## Download

The latest version of rake can be found at

- rubyforge.org/project/showfiles.php?group_id=50

## Installation

### Normal Installation

You can install rake with the following command.

      % ruby install.rb

from its distribution directory.

### GEM Installation

Download and install rake with the following.

       gem install --remote rake

### Running the Rake Test Suite

If you wish to run the unit and functional tests that come with Rake:

- CD into the top project directory of rake.
- Type one of the following:

         rake                  # If you have a version of rake installed
         ruby -Ilib bin/rake   # If you do not have a version of rake installed.

## Online Resources

## Rake References

- Rake Documentation Home: docs.rubyrake.org
- Rake Project Page: rubyforge.org/projects/rake
- Rake API Documents: rake.rubyforge.org

## Presentations and Articles about Rake

- Jim Weirich’s 2003 RubyConf presentation: onestepback.org/articles/buildingwithrake/
- Martin Fowler’s article on Rake: martinfowler.com/articles/rake.html

### Road Map

- If you want to see how to invoke rake to build your projects, read on.
- If you want to see the format of a Rakefile, see doc/rakefile.rdoc.
- If you want to see the original announcement of rake, see doc/rational.rdoc.
- If you want to see a glossary of terms, see doc/glossary.rdoc.

## Simple Example

Once installed, you can run rake as follows …

      % rake [options ...]  [VAR=VALUE ...]  [tasks...]

Type "rake —help" for an up-to-date option summary.

Invoking `rake` without any options or targets causes rake to look for a rakefile and invoke the default task in that rakefile.

For example, given a simple rakefile like this …

      task :default => [:test]

      task :test do
        ruby "test/unittest.rb"
      end

The command

      $ rake

will invoke the `default` task. As `default` satisfies its prerequisites, the `test` task will run the unit tests for the package.

## Other Make Reinvisionings …

Rake is a late entry in the make replacement field. Here are links to other projects with similar (and not so similar) goals.

- directory.fsf.org/bras.html — Bras, one of earliest implementations of "make in a scripting language".
- www.a-a-p.org — Make in Python
- www.aromatic.com/tools/jam.txt — JAM, Java Automated Make
- ant.apache.org — The Ant project
- ppt.perl.org/commands/make/index.html — Make from the Perl Power Tools implementation.
- search.cpan.org/search?query=PerlBuildSystem — The Perl Build System
- make.rubyforge.org — Rant, another Ruby make tool.

## Credits

Ryan Dlugosz
  For the initial conversation that sparked Rake.
nobu.nokada@softhome.net
  For the initial patch for rule support.
Tilman Sauerbeck <tilman@code-monkey.de>
  For the recursive rule patch.

## License

Rake is available under an MIT-style license.

Copyright © 2003, 2004 Jim Weirich

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

## Support

The Rake homepage is rake.rubyforge.org. You can find the Rake RubyForge page at rubyforge.org/projects/rake.

Feel free to submit commits or feature requests. If you send a patch, remember to update the corresponding unit tests. If fact, I prefer new feature to be submitted in the form of new unit tests.

For other information, feel free to ask on the ruby-talk mailing list (which is mirrored to comp.lang.ruby) or contact jim@weirichhouse.org.

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