[rualca]

> I simply don't understand the explosion of complexity associated to autotools, cmake, and the like.

If you refer to tools like cmake as "explosion of complexity" then I have to say that you are using them entirely wrong, and you should review your practice thoroughly.

I mean, cmake is a makefile generator. You specify a high-level description of your project, and then you run cmake for it to generate your Makefile that performs the whole build.

With cmake you don't even care which compiler you use. You can simply state you require, say, c++ 14 with constexpr support and you're done for all platforms and all compiler picks.

If you believe cmake is more complex than a makefile then either you only work on single-foot projects or you have been cursed with hideously managed cmake projects.