A simple automation program written in Perl that runs shell command(s) when the specified file(s) are modified.
Why Use Listen?
- Don’t switch between terminals and run that command every time! Let Listen do it for you.
- Very useful for singular files or small projects.
- For example, you can automatically compile a C++ file with
g++anytime you make a change to that source file. - Same goes for simple Python scripts, Bash scripts, etc.
- For example, you can automatically compile a C++ file with
- Great for students who work on a small set of source files for assignments.
Other Features
- Run the command when any or all files specified are modified.
- Run the command before Listen starts waiting for modifications.
- Runs out of the box! Perl is installed on any modern UNIX-like operating system.
- Use
/bin/cksumto determine file modification instead of the time it was written to.- Could be useful for binaries.
- Also distributed with Unix-like OSes, such as Linux, BSD, and macOS. No configuration required between OSes.
- However, if you use Windows (like a weirdo), you must use
certutilsor a third-party tool by modifying the script.
- Timeout between modifications
- Helpful if linters are involved, such as
clang-format, to avoid multiple runs of a command.
- Helpful if linters are involved, such as
- Free and Open Source software!
