GNUstep GitHub Actions Example

A cross-platform Objective-C demonstration project showcasing GNUstep compatibility with automated GitHub Actions CI/CD pipelines for Linux, macOS, and Windows.

Overview

This repository demonstrates how to build and run Objective-C applications using:

• Native Foundation framework on macOS
• GNUstep on Linux and Windows
• GitHub Actions for continuous integration across all platforms

The example includes a simple "Hello World" application that demonstrates various Foundation framework features including arrays, dictionaries, date handling, and string manipulation.

Features

• Cross-platform Objective-C code with ARC (Automatic Reference Counting)
• Automated CI/CD with GitHub Actions
• GNUstep Make build system support
• Platform-specific build configurations
• Comprehensive Foundation framework usage examples
• Build artifacts uploaded for each platform

Project Structure

gnustep-github-actions/
├── .github/
│   └── workflows/
│       ├── build-gnustep-ubuntu.yml    # Linux build workflow
│       ├── build-objc-macos.yml        # macOS build workflow
│       └── build-gnustep-windows.yml   # Windows build workflow
├── hello.h                             # Header file for HelloWorld class
├── hello.m                             # Implementation demonstrating Foundation features
├── GNUmakefile                         # GNUstep Make build configuration
├── LICENSE                             # GPLv3 License
└── README.md                           # This file

Requirements

macOS

• Xcode Command Line Tools or full Xcode installation
• Native Foundation framework (included with macOS)

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)

• clang compiler
• GNUstep development packages:
  • libobjc2
  • gnustep-make
  • gnustep-base

Windows

• MSYS2 environment
• MinGW-w64 packages:
  • mingw-w64-x86_64-clang
  • mingw-w64-x86_64-gnustep-base
  • mingw-w64-x86_64-gnustep-make

Building Locally

macOS

# Using clang directly
clang -framework Foundation hello.m -o hello
./hello

# Using GNUmakefile (if GNUstep Make is installed)
make
./obj/HelloWorld

Linux

# Install dependencies
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y clang gnustep-devel

# Source GNUstep environment
. /usr/share/GNUstep/Makefiles/GNUstep.sh

# Build with GNUmakefile
make
./obj/HelloWorld

# Or compile directly
clang `gnustep-config --objc-flags` hello.m -o hello `gnustep-config --base-libs`
./hello

Windows (MSYS2)

# In MSYS2 MinGW64 terminal
# Install dependencies
pacman -S mingw-w64-x86_64-clang mingw-w64-x86_64-gnustep-base mingw-w64-x86_64-gnustep-make

# Source GNUstep environment
. /mingw64/share/GNUstep/Makefiles/GNUstep.sh

# Build
make
./obj/HelloWorld.exe

GitHub Actions Workflows

The project includes three GitHub Actions workflows that automatically build the project on push:

Linux Workflow (build-gnustep-ubuntu.yml)

• Builds and installs libobjc2 from source
• Configures GNUstep Make with ARC support
• Builds GNUstep Base library
• Compiles and runs the example application
• Tests both direct compilation and GNUmakefile builds

macOS Workflow (build-objc-macos.yml)

• Uses native macOS Foundation framework
• Builds with clang directly
• Creates distributable package with shell script runner
• Uploads build artifacts

Windows Workflow (build-gnustep-windows.yml)

• Uses MSYS2 environment with pre-built GNUstep packages
• Handles Windows-specific DLL dependencies
• Creates package with batch file runner
• Tests execution in both MSYS2 and native Windows environments

Example Output

When run successfully, the application outputs:

Hello, World from GNUstep!
Testing GNUstep Foundation features:
Current date: 2024-01-01 12:00:00 +0000
Message: GNUstep is working!
Array count: 3
Dictionary: {
    key = value;
    number = 42;
}
Mutable array contents: (
    "Item 0",
    "Item 1", 
    "Item 2",
    "Item 3",
    "Item 4"
)
Joined message: GNUstep on multiple platforms

License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 - see the LICENSE file for details.