beta-v2.0.0

[ChaseSunstrom]

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🚀 Summary

CForge v2.0.0-beta is a ground-up rewrite of the original build system in Rust, delivering dramatically faster build times, rock-solid cross-platform consistency, and a modern, extensible plugin architecture. This beta introduces a revised cforge.toml syntax, first-class workspace support, smarter dependency resolution, and built-in testing and packaging hooks. While still in beta, we’ve stabilized the core features and welcome feedback on the new plugin API.

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🎯 Highlights

• Full Rust Rewrite
  The entire codebase has been rewritten in Rust for memory safety, blazing performance, and easy cross-compilation on Windows, Linux, and macOS.
• New TOML-based Config
  A revamped cforge.toml layout offers clearer sections for dependencies, build options, test suites, and packaging metadata.
• Plugin System
  Early-access API for third-party plugins: hook into custom dependency sources, code generators, or post-build steps.
• Workspace Management
  Multi-crate/workspace support with per-package overrides and top-level commands: cforge build, cforge test, cforge package.
• Integrated Testing & Packaging
  Define test targets and packaging rules right in your config—no more separate scripts.

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✨ New Features

1. Smarter Dependency Resolution

• Combine vcpkg, Git, and system-library pulls in a single pass
• Automatic caching of downloaded artifacts for offline/dev-container workflows

2. Parallel & Incremental Builds

• Detect file changes and only rebuild affected targets
• Parallel job scheduling based on CPU count (--jobs flag)

3. Enhanced CLI

• Tab-complete for subcommands and flags
• Verbosity levels '-v' or '-q' for granular logging

4. Built-in Test Runner

• Run unit and integration tests with cforge test
• Selective test filtering by name or tag

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🔄 Migration Guide

1. Install v2.0.0-beta

.\scripts\bootstrap.ps1

2. **Update `cforge.toml`

* Rename `[deps]` → `[dependencies]`
* Move build flags under `[build.options]`
3. **Re-initialize Workspace** (if applicable)

```bash
cforge workspace init

4. Run Clean & Build

   cforge clean
   cforge build

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⚡ Performance Improvements

• Cold build times reduced by up to 50% thanks to more direct command runs
• Warm rebuilds often complete in under 1 second on medium-sized projects

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❗ Known Issues

• Plugin API still experimental—some breaking changes may land before 1.0.0-stable.
• Windows MSI installer in progress; for now use the bootstrap scripts.
• Rare intermittent lockfile contention on network drives.

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❤️ Acknowledgments

A huge thanks to the early testers, GitHub community contributors, and everyone filing issues and PRs. Your feedback has driven this rewrite and helped shape CForge into a faster, more reliable tool.

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Download v2.0.0-beta today and join the discussion in the GitHub discussions or open issues for bugs and feature requests. Happy building!

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This discussion was created from the release beta-v2.0.0.