The following diagram represents the Yocto Project development environment at a high level in order to present the cross-compilation framework:
Let's look at what the components in the diagram stand for:
* User Configuration : This is metadata you can use to control the build process.
* Metadata layers : These are various layers that provide software, machine, and distribution metadata.
* Source files : These contain upstream releases, local projects, and source control management (Git, SVN, and so on).
* Build system : These are processes under the control of BitBake. This block expands on how BitBake fetches source files, applies patches, completes compilation, analyzes output for package generation, creates and tests packages, generates images, and generates cross-development tools.
* Package feeds : These are directories containing output packages (RPM, DEB, or IPK), which are subsequently used in the construction of an image or SDK produced by the build system. These feeds can also be copied and shared using a web server or other means to facilitate extending or updating existing images on devices at runtime if runtime package management is enabled.
* Images : These are images produced by the development process (the pieces that compose the operating system, such as the kernel image, bootloader, and rootfs).
* Application development SDK : These are cross-development tools that are produced along with an image or separately with BitBake.