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This might seem pedantic, but there is always a build system. Even a basic C compiler knows how to include header files, find the system libraries to link in, and so forth.

A number of languages have compilers that are smart enough to find and build all your code, if you don't have any dependencies. It's, as others noted, the dependencies that create most of the difficulties.



> there is always a build system

not if you use an interpreted language


Unless your code is all in one file, your interpreter has to essentially build your app at run time by examining your import statements, and running rules for resolving them.


So? If keep your code in a single file and use an interpreted language, then there is not always a build system.


True. There's also no build system if you don't write any code, or do something totally unrelated like wood carving.

The point was to get people to view the issue slightly differently.


That's really stretching the definition of “build system”.


I literally began my comment with "This might seem pedantic", to emphasize I understood that.




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