Enable gcc/clang warnings
One of the simplest ways to check your code is to turn on lots of compiler warnings. You may not agree with some of them, but they highlight potential problems that can be easily avoided.
It’s simple to add extra compiler/linker flags: set EXTRA_CFLAGS
and/or EXTRA_LDFLAGS
They will be appended to NeoMutt’s settings, e.g.
./configure OPTIONS
# Enable debugging
make EXTRA_CFLAGS="-ggdb3 -O0 -DDEBUG"
The Compiler Cache ccache
is a must for any developer.
Every time you compile a file, it keeps a hash of the preprocessed file and the object file that it created.
If you build that file again (and it hasn’t changed), then the cached version will be used.
NeoMutt has published two build scripts for developers.
Their style makes it very easy to enable/disable or add/remove compilation options.