Learning Robotics using Python - Second Edition

Introducing catkin

Catkin is the official build system of ROS. Before catkin, ROS used the rosbuild system to build packages. Its replacement is catkin on the latest ROS version. Catkin combines CMake macros and Python scripts to provide the same normal workflow that CMake produces. Catkin provides better distribution of packages, better cross-compilation, and better portability than the rosbuild system. For more information, refer to wiki.ros.org/catkin.

Catkin workspace is a folder where you can modify, build, and install catkin packages.

Let's check how to create an ROS catkin workspace.

The following command will create a parent directory called catkin_ws and a subfolder called src:

    $ mkdir -p ~/catkin_ws/src  

Switch directory to the ...