build: support out of tree build

[nmschulte]

Beginnings of #10748.

Checklist

• make -j4 test (UNIX), or vcbuild test (Windows) passes
• documentation is changed or added
• commit message follows commit guidelines

Affected core subsystem(s)

build; none?

[sam-github]

Please re-add the check-list from the PR template, particularly the "follows standard commit message format"

Use standard commit format https://github.com/nodejs/node/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md#step-3-commit

I've no idea what "d." means.

[nmschulte]

I assume build is the subsystem, given the label here? d. is short for differentiate

Note: it's rather difficult to find the PR template: I had to start creating a new PR, and that took a long time when trying to compare some of the available branches to allow me to see the template.

[targos]

The template is here: https://github.com/nodejs/node/blob/master/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md

[bnoordhuis]

This should be tested on the CI, otherwise it's going to be broken again a few months from now.

I don't really see a compelling reason to support out-of-tree builds, though. Just copy the source tree, no build system changes required.

[nmschulte]

I don't really see a compelling reason to support out-of-tree builds, though. Just copy the source tree, no build system changes required.

nmschulte@desmas-l:~$ du -hcs ~/src/node*
3.8G	/home/nmschulte/src/node
5.1G	/home/nmschulte/src/node.6.3.1
8.8G	total

The tree is ~4 GB+.

[bnoordhuis]

Not really an issue though, is it? Storage is cheap and plentiful nowadays. I have about 50 GB worth of checkouts and that's 2.5% of total disk space.

[nmschulte]

Are the Makefiles generated, or are they maintained by hand or with a tool somehow somehow?

…

On Jan 13, 2017 8:47 AM, "Ben Noordhuis" ***@***.***> wrote: Not really an issue though, is it? Storage is cheap and plentiful nowadays. I have about 50 GB worth of checkouts and that's 2.5% of total disk space. — You are receiving this because you authored the thread. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#10751 (comment)>, or mute the thread <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AIJQTxwzNS27LBq1S1rSdi2H9U9OCWn-ks5rR452gaJpZM4LhRVs> .

[bnoordhuis]

They are generated by gyp, from tools/gyp. Only the top-level Makefile is handwritten.

[jasnell]

Any updates on this one?

[nmschulte]

I haven't needed to build node (npm, really) since making this request. It seems the team doesn't wish to support this, so I've stopped.

The impetus for this issue was that npm link behavior is thoroughly broken in any non-trivial scenario. This likely means I'll be moving away from npm in the future, as the issue is very long standing.

The next steps here are to look at how gyp generates the Makefiles. I'm not familiar with gyp, but one should be able to follow the rabbit hole by looking for root_dir and the related variables that my first commit changes.

It's possible that the one line change to gyp_args is all that is needed here, but as I'm unfamiliar with gyp, I cannot really comment on that. 4f5b746#diff-e2d5a00791bce9a01f99bc6fd613a39dR1343

[bnoordhuis]

The impetus for this issue was that npm link behavior is thoroughly broken in any non-trivial scenario.

I'm not following. How do npm link and out-of-tree builds relate?

[nmschulte]

I'm not following. How do npm link and out-of-tree builds relate?

They relate like so: I needed to perform many builds of Node, while preferring to retain the compilations and build configurations, while searching a solution to the longstanding npm link bug that is ultimately hindering my progress.
npm/npm#10343

A build supporting out-of-source-tree building does this very nicely, and is the typical solution; hence this PR.

I've stopped using npm link the way it's documented, allowing me to stop building nodejs/npm, and to stop running into the npm link bug.

[BridgeAR]

I do not have a strong opinion on this but would it not be best to try to solve the issue on npm?
And would you want to continue working on this here @nmschulte?

[nmschulte]

I don't build Node.js/npm very often, so I won't be continuing with this effort here.