Show HN: A statically typed, cross-platform, easily bootstrappable build system
BUSY is a statically typed, cross-platform build system designed to be easily bootstrappable. It is implemented in a small subset of C++ and can build itself from source with minimal dependencies, making it portable across different operating systems.
Background
- BUSY is a new build system created by R. Keller (known for replicating complex software like Oberon, Smalltalk, and SQLite from scratch). It is statically typed, cross-platform, and designed to be "bootstrapable" — meaning it can be built from source using minimal dependencies, often just a C compiler.
- Build systems (like Make, CMake, Bazel) are tools that automate compiling source code into executable programs. Many popular ones are large, complex, or depend on scripting languages (Python, shell), making them hard to port to new platforms.
- A "bootstrapable" build system matters for long-term software preservation, minimal operating systems, and embedded or esoteric platforms where tooling is scarce: you can get a working environment started with little more than a C compiler.
- This is posted as "Show HN," a category on Hacker News where makers share projects they built themselves.