Concepts

Understanding how fromager works under the hood.

Key Topics

These guides explain the fundamental concepts and design principles behind fromager:

• Architecture Overview - Major subsystems, data flow, extension points, and key data structures

• Bootstrap vs Build Modes - Understand the difference between recursive discovery (bootstrap) and single-package builds (build)

• Bootstrapper Architecture - Phase pipeline, class hierarchy, and interaction model of the bootstrap engine

• Resolver Architecture - Resolution strategies, provider hierarchy, version filtering, and per-package configuration

• Hooks and Overrides - The two plugin systems: per-package overrides and global hooks

• Package Settings - Settings loading, merge order, and the PackageBuildInfo facade

• Dependency Types - Learn about build-system, build-backend, build-sdist, and install dependencies

• Architecture Overview
• Bootstrap vs Build
• Bootstrapper Architecture
• Resolver Architecture
• Hooks and Overrides
• Package Settings
• Understanding Dependency Types

Related Practical Guides

Apply these concepts with task-oriented guides:

• Using fromager - Bootstrap and build mode usage

• Enable Repeatable Builds - Use build graphs for consistent builds

• Graph Command Examples - Analyze dependency graphs

• Customizing parts of the package build process - Customize the build process

Reference Material

• Glossary - Definitions of key terms

• Input and Output Files - Build order and graph file formats