Introduction

The build process converts your application's source code into an executable optimized for the production environment.

This requires a boson-php/compiler component that is supplied separately from the boson-php/runtime.

It is recommended to install the compiler dependency as a --dev dependency since it is required exclusively for development.

#Installation

Via Composer:

composer require boson-php/compiler --dev

Requirements:

• PHP ^8.4

#Compilation Process

The process of building an application consists of several consecutive steps:

1. The first step is to try to read the boson.json configuration file.
2. Next, all settings explicitly passed to the console command arguments are applied; for example, the --platform=macos argument will explicitly override configuration "platform" field value.
3. Next, the application is assembled into a single phar archive. The archive is placed in the output directory.
4. Next, the PHP runtime, application code and settings are compiled into a single executable file.
5. The final step is to move the built application and its dependencies to the appropriate build directory.

    stateDiagram-v2
       IC: Read Configuration
       OC: Applying CLI arguments
       PH: Assembling the PHAR
       CM: Compilation
       INI: Applying ini settings
       BC: Selecting a PHP runtime
       OU: Copying dependencies to the build directory

       [*] --> IC
       IC --> OC
       OC --> PH
       OC --> INI
       OC --> BC
       INI --> CM
       PH --> CM
       BC --> CM
       CM --> OU
       OU --> [*]

In the simplest case, there will be 2 files left in the output directory:

• The application executable file (.exe, .dmg, etc).
• A library for working with WebView (.dll, .so, .dylib, etc.).

#Usage

Compiler package provides a command line tool that can be executed with the php vendor/bin/boson command. For example, you can run the list command to get information about the capabilities of the console utility.

php vendor/bin/boson list

Then the output result will be approximately the same as on the screen

Boson Command Line 0.13.4

Usage:
  command [options] [arguments]

Options:
  -h, --help            Display help for the given command. When 
                        no command is given display help for the 
                        list command
      --silent          Do not output any message
  -q, --quiet           Only errors are displayed. All other output 
                        is suppressed
  -V, --version         Display this application version
      --ansi|--no-ansi  Force (or disable --no-ansi) ANSI output
  -n, --no-interaction  Do not ask any interactive question
  -v|vv|vvv, --verbose  Increase the verbosity of messages: 1 for 
                        normal output, 2 for more verbose output 
                        and 3 for debug

Available commands:
  compile  Compile application to executable binary
  help     Display help for a command
  init     Initialize configuration
  list     List commands
  pack     Pack application files to phar assembly