diff options
| author | Mitja Felicijan <mitja.felicijan@gmail.com> | 2023-06-03 16:47:03 +0200 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Mitja Felicijan <mitja.felicijan@gmail.com> | 2023-06-03 16:47:03 +0200 |
| commit | 7c5094265c782d61bf77277c14f13660ff22728e (patch) | |
| tree | ec069f3571a6222075f2af5988687ced1b213fb7 /content/posts | |
| parent | 61f41219f043a6a9f389dcaab4cbebe6c0ec5b43 (diff) | |
| download | mitjafelicijan.com-7c5094265c782d61bf77277c14f13660ff22728e.tar.gz | |
Format a post
Diffstat (limited to 'content/posts')
| -rw-r--r-- | content/posts/2023-05-31-re-inventing-task-runner-that-i-actually-used-daily.md | 114 |
1 files changed, 85 insertions, 29 deletions
diff --git a/content/posts/2023-05-31-re-inventing-task-runner-that-i-actually-used-daily.md b/content/posts/2023-05-31-re-inventing-task-runner-that-i-actually-used-daily.md index f2c19fa..17fdaf6 100644 --- a/content/posts/2023-05-31-re-inventing-task-runner-that-i-actually-used-daily.md +++ b/content/posts/2023-05-31-re-inventing-task-runner-that-i-actually-used-daily.md | |||
| @@ -1,34 +1,59 @@ | |||
| 1 | --- | 1 | --- |
| 2 | title: "Re Inventing Task Runner That I Actually Used Daily" | 2 | title: "Re-Inventing Task Runner That I Actually Used Daily" |
| 3 | url: re-inventing-task-runner-that-i-actually-used-daily.html | 3 | url: re-inventing-task-runner-that-i-actually-used-daily.html |
| 4 | date: 2023-05-31T12:21:10+02:00 | 4 | date: 2023-05-31T12:21:10+02:00 |
| 5 | draft: false | 5 | draft: false |
| 6 | --- | 6 | --- |
| 7 | 7 | ||
| 8 | Couple of months ago I had this brilliant idea of re-inventing the wheel by making an alternative for make. And so I went. Boldly into the battle. And to my big surprise my attempt resulted in not a completely useless piece of software. | 8 | Couple of months ago I had this brilliant idea of re-inventing the wheel |
| 9 | by making an alternative for make. And so I went. Boldly into the | ||
| 10 | battle. And to my big surprise my attempt resulted in not a completely | ||
| 11 | useless piece of software. | ||
| 9 | 12 | ||
| 10 | My initial requirements were quite simple but soon grow into something more ambitious. And looking back I should have stuck to the simple version. My laziness was on my side this time though. Because I haven’t implemented some of the features I now realise I really didn’t need them and they would bog the whole program and make it be something it was never meant to be. | 13 | My initial requirements were quite simple but soon grow into something |
| 14 | more ambitious. And looking back I should have stuck to the simple | ||
| 15 | version. My laziness was on my side this time though. Because I haven’t | ||
| 16 | implemented some of the features I now realise I really didn’t need them | ||
| 17 | and they would bog the whole program and make it be something it was | ||
| 18 | never meant to be. | ||
| 11 | 19 | ||
| 12 | My basic requirements were following: | 20 | My basic requirements were following: |
| 13 | 21 | ||
| 14 | - Syntax should be a tiny bit inspired by Rake and Rakefiles. | 22 | - Syntax should be a tiny bit inspired by Rake and Rakefiles. |
| 15 | - Should borrow the overall feel of a unit test experience. | 23 | - Should borrow the overall feel of a unit test experience. |
| 16 | - Using something like Python would be a bit of an overkill. | 24 | - Using something like Python would be a bit of an overkill. |
| 17 | - The program must be statically compiled, so it can run on same architecture without libc, musl dependencies or things like that. | 25 | - The program must be statically compiled, so it can run on same |
| 18 | - Install ruby for rake is a bit overkill and can not be done with certain really lightweight distributions like Alpine Linux. This tool would be usable on such lightweight systems for remote debugging. | 26 | architecture without libc, musl dependencies or things like that. |
| 19 | - I want to use it for more than just compiling things. I want to use it as an entry-point into a project, and I want this to help me indirectly document the project as well. | 27 | - Install ruby for rake is a bit overkill and can not be done |
| 20 | - It should be an abstraction over bash shell or the default system shell. | 28 | with certain really lightweight distributions like Alpine |
| 29 | Linux. This tool would be usable on such lightweight systems | ||
| 30 | for remote debugging. | ||
| 31 | - I want to use it for more than just compiling things. I want to | ||
| 32 | use it as an entry-point into a project, and I want this to | ||
| 33 | help me indirectly document the project as well. | ||
| 34 | - It should be an abstraction over bash shell or the default | ||
| 35 | system shell. | ||
| 21 | - Each task essentially becomes its own shell instance. | 36 | - Each task essentially becomes its own shell instance. |
| 22 | - Must work on Linux and macOS systems. | 37 | - Must work on Linux and macOS systems. |
| 23 | - By default, running `erd` list all the available tasks (when I use make, I usually put a disclaimer that you should check Makefile to see all available target). | 38 | - By default, running `erd` list all the available tasks (when |
| 39 | I use make, I usually put a disclaimer that you should check | ||
| 40 | Makefile to see all available target). | ||
| 24 | - Should support passing arguments when you run it from a shell. | 41 | - Should support passing arguments when you run it from a shell. |
| 25 | - Normal variable as the same as environmental variables. There is no distinction. Every variable is also essentially an environment variable and can be used by other programs. | 42 | - Normal variable as the same as environmental variables. There |
| 26 | - State between tasks is not shared, and this makes this “pure” shell instances. | 43 | is no distinction. Every variable is also essentially an |
| 27 | - Should be single-threaded for the start and later expanded with `@spawn` command. | 44 | environment variable and can be used by other programs. |
| 45 | - State between tasks is not shared, and this makes this “pure” | ||
| 46 | shell instances. | ||
| 47 | - Should be single-threaded for the start and later expanded | ||
| 48 | with `@spawn` command. | ||
| 28 | - Variables behave like macros and are preprocessed before evaluation. | 49 | - Variables behave like macros and are preprocessed before evaluation. |
| 29 | - Should support something like `assure` that would check if programs like C compiler or Python (whatever the project requires) are installed on a machine. | 50 | - Should support something like `assure` that would check if |
| 51 | programs like C compiler or Python (whatever the project | ||
| 52 | requires) are installed on a machine. | ||
| 30 | 53 | ||
| 31 | Quite a reasonable list of requirements. I do this things already in my Makefiles or/and Bash scripts. But I would like to avoid repeating myself every time I start working on something new. | 54 | Quite a reasonable list of requirements. I do this things already in my |
| 55 | Makefiles or/and Bash scripts. But I would like to avoid repeating | ||
| 56 | myself every time I start working on something new. | ||
| 32 | 57 | ||
| 33 | So I started with the following syntax. | 58 | So I started with the following syntax. |
| 34 | 59 | ||
| @@ -86,7 +111,13 @@ end | |||
| 86 | end | 111 | end |
| 87 | ``` | 112 | ``` |
| 88 | 113 | ||
| 89 | One thing that I really like about Errand. Yes, this is what it is called. And it is available at https://git.mitjafelicijan.com/errand.git/about/. Moving on. One thing that I really like is that a task is a persistent shell. By that I mean, that the whole task, even if it contains multiple command in one shell. In make each line in a target is that and you need to combine lines or add `\` at the end of the line. | 114 | One thing that I really like about Errand. Yes, this is what it is |
| 115 | called. And it is available at | ||
| 116 | https://git.mitjafelicijan.com/errand.git/about/. Moving on. One thing | ||
| 117 | that I really like is that a task is a persistent shell. By that I mean, | ||
| 118 | that the whole task, even if it contains multiple command in one shell. | ||
| 119 | In make each line in a target is that and you need to combine lines or | ||
| 120 | add `\` at the end of the line. | ||
| 90 | 121 | ||
| 91 | ```bash | 122 | ```bash |
| 92 | # How you do this things in make. | 123 | # How you do this things in make. |
| @@ -95,18 +126,43 @@ target: | |||
| 95 | python script.py | 126 | python script.py |
| 96 | ``` | 127 | ``` |
| 97 | 128 | ||
| 98 | This solves this problem. Consider each task and what is being executed in that task a shell that will only close when all the tasks are completed. | 129 | This solves this problem. Consider each task and what is being executed |
| 99 | 130 | in that task a shell that will only close when all the tasks are | |
| 100 | By self-documenting I mean that if you are in a directory with `Errandfile` in, if you only type `erd` and press enter it should by default display all the possible targets. In make i was doing this by having a first target be something like `default` that echos the message “Check Makefile for all available target.” Because all of the tasks in Errand require a message I use that to display let’s call it table of contents. | 131 | completed. |
| 101 | 132 | ||
| 102 | Because I don’t use any external dependencies this whole thing can be statically compiled. So that also checked one of the boxes. | 133 | By self-documenting I mean that if you are in a directory with |
| 103 | 134 | `Errandfile` in, if you only type `erd` and press enter it should by | |
| 104 | It works on Linux and on a Mac so that’s also a bonus. I don’t believe this would work on Windows machines because of the way that I use shell instances. By you could use something like Windows Subsystem for Linux and run it in there. That is a valid option. | 135 | default display all the possible targets. In make i was doing this by |
| 105 | 136 | having a first target be something like `default` that echos the message | |
| 106 | To finish this essay off, how was it to use it in “real life”. I have to be honest. Some of the missing features still bother me. `@dotenv` directive is still missing and I need to implement this ASAP. | 137 | “Check Makefile for all available target.” Because all of the tasks in |
| 107 | 138 | Errand require a message I use that to display let’s call it table of | |
| 108 | Another thing that needs to happen is support for streaming output. Currently commands like `docker-compose` that runs in foreground mode is not compatible with Errand. So commands that stream output are an issue. I need to revisit how I initiate shell and how I read stdout and stderr. But that shouldn’t be a problem. | 139 | contents. |
| 109 | 140 | ||
| 110 | I have been very satisfied with this thing. I am pleasantly surprised by how useful it is. I really wanted to test this in the wild before I commit to it. I have more abandoned project than Google and it’s bringing a massive shame to my family at this point. So I wanted to be sure that this is even useful. And it actually is. Quite surprised at myself. | 141 | Because I don’t use any external dependencies this whole thing can be |
| 111 | 142 | statically compiled. So that also checked one of the boxes. | |
| 112 | I really need to package this now and write proper docs. And maybe rewrite tokeniser. Its atrocious right now. Site to behold! But that is an issue for another time. | 143 | |
| 144 | It works on Linux and on a Mac so that’s also a bonus. I don’t believe | ||
| 145 | this would work on Windows machines because of the way that I use shell | ||
| 146 | instances. By you could use something like Windows Subsystem for Linux | ||
| 147 | and run it in there. That is a valid option. | ||
| 148 | |||
| 149 | To finish this essay off, how was it to use it in “real life”. I have to | ||
| 150 | be honest. Some of the missing features still bother me. `@dotenv` | ||
| 151 | directive is still missing and I need to implement this ASAP. | ||
| 152 | |||
| 153 | Another thing that needs to happen is support for streaming output. | ||
| 154 | Currently commands like `docker-compose` that runs in foreground mode is | ||
| 155 | not compatible with Errand. So commands that stream output are an issue. | ||
| 156 | I need to revisit how I initiate shell and how I read stdout and stderr. | ||
| 157 | But that shouldn’t be a problem. | ||
| 158 | |||
| 159 | I have been very satisfied with this thing. I am pleasantly surprised by | ||
| 160 | how useful it is. I really wanted to test this in the wild before I | ||
| 161 | commit to it. I have more abandoned project than Google and it’s | ||
| 162 | bringing a massive shame to my family at this point. So I wanted to be | ||
| 163 | sure that this is even useful. And it actually is. Quite surprised at | ||
| 164 | myself. | ||
| 165 | |||
| 166 | I really need to package this now and write proper docs. And maybe | ||
| 167 | rewrite tokeniser. Its atrocious right now. Site to behold! But that is | ||
| 168 | an issue for another time. | ||
