1Building Systems:The Migration Costs of the Warring States Period

1. Fragmentation of Multiple Tools

• CMake/Bazel/Meson are in a three-way standoff: Syntax differences require relearning configuration logic for cross-project collaboration (e.g., CMake’s <span>target_link_libraries</span> conflicts with Bazel’s <span>deps</span> rule).
• Historical baggage hampers modernization: Legacy projects depend on Autotools-generated <span>configure</span> scripts, which have poor compatibility with modern IDEs (like CLion), necessitating manual adaptation to CMake wrappers.

Technical Debt from Cross-Generation Integration

• Makefile traps: Nested recursive builds lead to inefficient incremental compilation, making it difficult to integrate into CI/CD pipelines (limited support from tools like GitLab Runner).
• Resistance to modular transformation: The promotion of C++20 Modules is slow, and the old header file inclusion mechanism hinders compilation speed.

2. Package Management: The “Dependency Hell” Caused by the Lack of Standards

1. Splintering of Tool Camps

• Conan emphasizes flexibility (custom private sources), but configuration is complex;
• vcpkg is deeply tied to the Microsoft ecosystem, with a Windows-first strategy causing cross-platform controversies;
• Conda focuses on scientific computing, with weak support for general C++ libraries.

• Conan vs vcpkg vs Conda:

The Pain of Binary Distribution

• ABI compatibility quagmire: The same library needs to be compiled separately for MSVC/GCC/Clang (e.g., the Boost library requires maintaining three sets of binary packages).
• Version conflict avalanche effect: Mismatched dynamic link library (DLL/so) versions lead to runtime crashes, while static linking increases size (e.g., compatibility issues between OpenCV 5.0 and 4.x).

3. Toolchains: The Double Bind of Cross-Platform and Metaprogramming

1. The Hidden Costs of Environment Adaptation

• Path wars: The path conventions of Windows <span>C:\Program Files</span> conflict with Linux’s <span>/usr/local</span>, and hardcoded paths lead to CI environment build failures.
• Compiler feature games: The <span>-std=c++2b</span> option for GCC and <span>/std:c++latest</span> for MSVC are not unified, requiring conditional compilation adaptations.

The Backlash of Dynamic Features in Toolchains

• Macro expansion black holes: IDEs (like VS Code + Clangd) fail to provide smart hints for <span>#define</span>, making code behavior unpredictable during refactoring.
• Debugging dilemmas in template metaprogramming: constexpr calculations and template specialization lead to increased compilation times, making it difficult for GDB/LLDB to trace metaprogramming logic.