website/content/projects/listen.md

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Listen A simple automation tool for literally anything you use a shell for listen.png https://codeberg.org/brysonsteck/listen GNU General Public License v3.0 ONLY Perl false true 2022-09-07T12:06:25-07:00 January 2, 2006 false

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.
  • 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/cksum to 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 certutils or 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.
  • Free and Open Source software!