Various improvements

[CyberShadow]

Of note is the new vibe.core.args, which no longer needs to import every module that wants to parse command-line / configuration file options.

[s-ludwig]

Some comments:

• tests: This a part that was not really set in stone yet, as it depends heavily on the automated test system that we are currently (slowly) setting up. Depending on the final decisions there, it is possible that we'll need to change everything back to one project (e.g. because building many separate test projects takes up a lot more time that a single project with all tests). Since those tests are not really meant for the general user of the library, it shouldn't really matter too much that all dependencies need to be installed.
• command line arguments: Interesting, didn't know about Runtime.args. One issue with the distributed system is that now there is no central place where all possible flags are listed, but maybe this is actually a nice opportunity to implement a dynamic help screen that is built up during static initialization from all getOption calls...
• pragma(lib): DUB and VPM use "pkg-config" to find the correct linker flags/library names for a certain library to adapt for differences between systems/installations. Using pragma(lib) as a shortcut for the common case may be a nice addition, but it should not interfere with the existing build scripts/tools here. Does pragma(lib) produce an error if the specified library is not found? Does GDC produce an error or does it just ignore the pragma?

[CyberShadow]

Since those tests are not really meant for the general user of the library, it shouldn't really matter too much that all dependencies need to be installed.

Well, I don't want to install Redis or MongoDB in order to run or write tests.

I suppose version blocks would be nicer. However, first I would tackle the performance problems head-on. The tests import vibe.vibe, for a start.

Does pragma(lib) produce an error if the specified library is not found?

Yes, with ld. Is it a matter of just library search paths, or varying file names too?

Does GDC produce an error or does it just ignore the pragma?

I don't know. I doubt it produces an error.

Phobos uses pragma(lib) for curl, and it hasn't caused any issues that I know of.

[s-ludwig]

Well, I don't want to install Redis or MongoDB in order to run or write tests.

Sorry, I missed that the current app.d just stupidly runs all tests sequentially. The idea is that the test to run can be selected (e.g. by command line switch or using a system similar to OpenAutomate). So no need to install dependencies for unused tests.

Does pragma(lib) produce an error if the specified library is not found?

Yes, with ld. Is it a matter of just library search paths, or varying file names too?

Usually just paths, but I think I got also different names sometimes in the past (on FreeBSD), plus it can be that multiple library files are needed or just a single one. And then there is the problem with "--as-needed" on newer Ubuntu versions (and probably others) that requires libraries with interdependencies to be passed in the right order to the linker. But of course that may not be an issue for the specific libraries in question here - I'd like to be reasonably sure about that, though.

[s-ludwig]

I've now merged everything and wrapped the libevent and openssl pragma(lib)s in a version(VibePragmaLib) block to avoid issues until it's properly tested/working in all environments.

[CyberShadow]

Hi, thanks! In the future, please feel free to be specific on what needs to be changed for pull requests to be merged without fixups on your part, so I don't steal too much of your time.

version(VibePragmaLib) works for me, I'll just add it to my generic build command.

[s-ludwig]

Yes, I didn't look close enough and didn't realize at first that the privilege lowering was broken - but it was quick to fix and most of the code is really just the new help screen functionality. So no problem.

The VibePragmaLib can hopefully be removed one or two dub/vibe releases ahead when those automatically define some kind of DubBuild or LibsExternallyLinked kind of version. The default could then be switched to use the pragma, which basically makes more sense after all.