Vcpkg: Port request: Abseil (Google's common library)

[arthur-tacca]

Google has just released a library with some of their low-level code such as time, string handling, and their mutex class. There are plans to add logging and command-line flag infrastructure.

• Announcement: https://opensource.googleblog.com/2017/09/introducing-abseil-new-common-libraries.html
• Library docs: https://abseil.io/
• Library code: https://github.com/abseil/abseil-cpp

This is a pre-emptive request, because the library has just been released so it is not a dependency of any public project (or probably of any private project). But the announcement mentions that this library already existed privately inside Google, and bits of it are currently copy-and-pasted into protobuf and gRPC (already in vcpkg) and TensorFlow (#466), and this will change to a proper dependency over time. So sooner or later it will need to be included if these other packages are (still) to be.

[KindDragon]

Bazel doesn't work for me on Windows

[KindDragon]

But the announcement mentions that this library already existed privately inside Google, and bits of it are currently copy-and-pasted into protobuf and gRPC (already in vcpkg) and TensorFlow (#466), and this will change to a proper dependency over time.

They will add for them CMake to Abseil

[arthur-tacca]

I wasn't sure what that comment meant at first, but I think you're saying that Google is going to have to add CMake support to Abseil so that it can be used by these other projects. The implication being that there's no point vcpkg adding it now when official support will come anyway before it's really needed here. If that is what you meant, I agree.

[KindDragon]

If that is what you meant, I agree.

👍

[ras0219-msft]

Totally experimental; don't take a dependency; etc etc:

I've written a replacement buildsystem for abseil in CMake available in master (9f9b4bc5). It also installs targets (subject to change in the future according to what Google does for their official cmake buildsystem):

  find_package(unofficial-abseil REQUIRED)
  link_libraries(unofficial::abseil::strings unofficial::abseil::base)

[atkawa7]

@ras0219-msft out of topic Are you guys at cppcon?

[ras0219-msft]

Yep, I gave a talk on vcpkg on Tuesday and I'll be at the Microsoft booth all week if anyone wants to drop by!

[atkawa7]

@ras0219-msft I am not. But would love to hear about the talks. Hopeful they are going to release some videos soon

[KindDragon]

https://github.com/abseil/abseil-cpp/pull/8

[gennadiycivil]

Bazel is a build system for Abseil.
If anyone experiences Bazel problems on a supported platform (windows should work by the way ) please open issues and we shall see what we can do to address.
NOTE: Abseil team will still primarily support bazel, but we'll do our best to keep CMake working too once CMake support lands.

[KindDragon]

I can't even run bazel on Windows https://github.com/bazelbuild/bazel/issues/3821

[atkawa7]

@KindDragon Bazel fails on windows most of the time. I don't think it is as stable as they assume it to be

[atkawa7]

@ras0219-msft Please close