This guide provides instructions for building, testing, and benchmarking the Ada URL parser library using CMake.
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This guide provides instructions for building, testing, and benchmarking the Ada URL parser library using CMake.
# Build library only (no tests, no benchmarks) cmake -B build && cmake --build build # Build with tests (development checks ENABLED) cmake -B build -DADA_TESTING=ON && cmake --build build ctest --output-on-failure --test-dir build # Build with benchmarks (development checks DISABLED for accurate performance) cmake -B build -DADA_BENCHMARKS=ON -DADA_USE_UNSAFE_STD_REGEX_PROVIDER=ON -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release && cmake --build build ./build/benchmarks/benchdata # Run main benchmark # FASTER BUILDS: Use Ninja instead of Make cmake -B build -G Ninja -DADA_TESTING=ON && cmake --build build cmake -B build -G Ninja -DADA_BENCHMARKS=ON -DADA_USE_UNSAFE_STD_REGEX_PROVIDER=ON -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release && cmake --build build
sudo apt install ninja-buildFor a minimal build with just the library:
cmake -B build cmake --build build
This creates the Ada library without tests or benchmarks.
To build with tests enabled:
cmake -B build -DADA_TESTING=ON cmake --build build
Important: When
ADA_TESTING=ONNDEBUGADA_ASSERT_TRUEADA_ASSERT_EQUALTo build benchmarks for performance testing:
cmake -B build -DADA_BENCHMARKS=ON -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release cmake --build build
Critical: Always build benchmarks in Release mode (
-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=ReleaseIf you have dependencies (like GoogleTest, Google Benchmark) already installed locally:
cmake -B build -DADA_TESTING=ON -DCPM_USE_LOCAL_PACKAGES=ON cmake --build build
| Option | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| OFF | Enable building tests |
| OFF | Enable building benchmarks (requires 64-bit) |
| OFF | Enable building command-line tools |
| OFF | Build from single-header amalgamated files |
| OFF | Enable SIMD-accelerated Unicode via simdutf |
| - | Set to |
After building with
-DADA_TESTING=ON# Run all tests ctest --output-on-failure --test-dir build # Run specific test executable ./build/tests/basic_tests # Run tests with verbose output ctest --verbose --test-dir build
Tests run with development checks enabled by default (unless built with
-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DNDEBUGADA_ASSERT_TRUEADA_ASSERT_EQUALThis is the recommended mode for development.
After building with
-DADA_BENCHMARKS=ON# Main benchmark comparing against competitors ./build/benchmarks/benchdata # Specific benchmarks ./build/benchmarks/bench # Basic URL parsing benchmarks ./build/benchmarks/bbc_bench # BBC URLs benchmark ./build/benchmarks/wpt_bench # Web Platform Tests benchmark ./build/benchmarks/percent_encode # Percent encoding benchmarks
Always disable development checks for benchmarks by building in Release mode:
# CORRECT: Benchmarks with development checks disabled cmake -B build -DADA_BENCHMARKS=ON -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release cmake --build build ./build/benchmarks/benchdata # WRONG: Don't benchmark with development checks enabled cmake -B build -DADA_BENCHMARKS=ON # Missing Release mode!
Development checks add significant overhead that skews performance measurements. The
ADA_DEVELOPMENT_CHECKS-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=ReleaseNDEBUGADA_DEVELOPMENT_CHECKS=0# Clone and enter directory cd /path/to/ada # Create build directory for tests cmake -B build -DADA_TESTING=ON cmake --build build
# Make code changes... # Rebuild (only rebuilds changed files) cmake --build build # Run tests to verify correctness ctest --output-on-failure --test-dir build # Or run specific test ./build/tests/basic_tests
# Create separate benchmark build cmake -B build-release -DADA_BENCHMARKS=ON -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release cmake --build build-release # Run benchmarks ./build-release/benchmarks/benchdata # Compare before/after optimizations # (stash changes, rebuild, run benchmark, restore, rebuild, run again)
# Remove build directory and start fresh rm -rf build cmake -B build -DADA_TESTING=ON cmake --build build
Development checks are compile-time assertions that validate:
validate()Automatically enabled when:
ADA_TESTING=ONCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=DebugNDEBUGAutomatically disabled when:
CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=ReleaseNDEBUG# Force enable development checks (even in Release) cmake -B build -DADA_DEVELOPMENT_CHECKS=1 # Force disable development checks (even in Debug) cmake -B build -DNDEBUG=1
Clang-tidy is used for static analysis. There are two ways to run it:
Run clang-tidy automatically during compilation:
cmake -B build -DADA_TESTING=ON \ -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=clang++ \ -DCMAKE_CXX_CLANG_TIDY=clang-tidy \ -DCMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS=ON cmake --build build
Important: You must use clang++ as the compiler when running clang-tidy during build. Using GCC will cause errors because clang-tidy doesn't understand GCC-specific flags like
-mno-avx256-split-unaligned-loadFirst, generate the compilation database:
cmake -B build -DADA_TESTING=ON \ -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=clang++ \ -DCMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS=ON cmake --build build
Then run clang-tidy on specific files:
clang-tidy -p build src/ada.cpp clang-tidy -p build src/ada_idna.cpp
The
-p buildcompile_commands.jsonThe
.clang-tidybugprone-*clang-analyzer-*All warnings are treated as errors (
WarningsAsErrors: '*'Specify configuration during build:
cmake -B build -DADA_TESTING=ON cmake --build build --config Release ctest --output-on-failure --test-dir build --config Release
Standard commands work as documented above.
Cause: Development checks are enabled.
Solution: Rebuild with Release mode:
cmake -B build -DADA_BENCHMARKS=ON -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release cmake --build build
Expected behavior - development checks are catching bugs. Review the assertion message and fix the underlying issue.
Cause: Benchmarks not built (32-bit system or not enabled).
Solution:
cmake -B build -DADA_BENCHMARKS=ON cmake --build build ls build/benchmarks/ # Check what was built
| Task | Command | Development Checks |
|---|---|---|
| Library only | | N/A |
| Testing | | ✅ Enabled |
| Benchmarking | | ❌ Disabled |
| Development | | ✅ Enabled |