Compiling Bzip2

Directory: bzip2/
Build Systems: Meson (preferred), CMake Latest Version: 0.0.5-1

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Overview

Bzip2 supports two build systems. Meson is preferred for Unix-like systems, while CMake provides cross-platform support.

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Build Systems Comparison

Feature	Meson	CMake
Unix Support	✅ Excellent	✅ Good
Windows Support	✅ Good	✅ Excellent
Preferred For	Unix-like	Cross-platform

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Prerequisites

All Platforms

• Python 3.6+
• C compiler (GCC, Clang, or MSVC)

Meson Builds

• Meson 0.56+
• Ninja
• pkg-config

CMake Builds

• CMake 3.12+

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Meson Build

Linux/macOS

cd bzip2

# Configure
meson setup builddir --prefix=/usr

# Build
ninja -C builddir

# Test
meson test -C builddir --print-errorlogs

# Install (optional)
sudo ninja -C builddir install

Windows (MSVC)

cd bzip2

REM From VS Developer Command Prompt
meson setup builddir
ninja -C builddir
meson test -C builddir --print-errorlogs

Meson Options

Option	Default	Description
default_library	shared	static, shared, or both
--backend	ninja	Use vs for MSBuild
--unity	off	Enable unity build
buildtype	debug	release, debug, etc.

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CMake Build

Linux/macOS

cd bzip2
mkdir build && cd build

# Configure
cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release

# Build
cmake --build .

# Test
ctest -V

# Install (optional)
cmake --install .

Windows

cd bzip2
mkdir build; cd build

# Configure
cmake ..

# Build (Release)
cmake --build . --config Release

# Test
ctest -C Release -V

CMake Options

Option	Default	Description
ENABLE_APP	ON	Build bzip2 program
ENABLE_LIB_ONLY	OFF	Only build library
ENABLE_STATIC_LIB	OFF	Build static library
ENABLE_SHARED_LIB	ON	Build shared library
ENABLE_TESTS	ON	Build tests
ENABLE_DOCS	OFF	Generate documentation
ENABLE_EXAMPLES	OFF	Build examples
USE_OLD_SONAME	OFF	Use old SONAME (distro compat)

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SONAME Compatibility (Linux)

The SONAME changed from libbz2.so.1.0 to libbz2.so.1 in version 1.1.

For distro compatibility:

# Option 1: CMake flag
cmake .. -DUSE_OLD_SONAME=ON

# Option 2: Manual patchelf
patchelf --set-soname libbz2.so.1.0 libbz2.so.1.0.9

Check SONAME:

objdump -p libbz2.so.1.0.9 | grep SONAME

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Related Documentation

• Bzip2 Overview — Main documentation
• Bzip2 Tests — Test suite
• Bzip2 Test Files — Test file collection