Mastering Cmake Pdf May 2026

"version": 3, "configurePresets": [ "name": "debug", "displayName": "Debug", "generator": "Ninja", "binaryDir": "$sourceDir/build/debug", "cacheVariables": "CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE": "Debug", "BUILD_TESTS": "ON" , "name": "release", "inherits": "debug", "displayName": "Release", "binaryDir": "$sourceDir/build/release", "cacheVariables": "CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE": "Release" ], "buildPresets": [ "name": "debug", "configurePreset": "debug" , "name": "release", "configurePreset": "release" ]

Usage: cmake --preset debug && cmake --build --preset debug | Pitfall | Solution | |---------|----------| | Using link_directories() | Use absolute paths or find_library + target_link_libraries | | Modifying CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS directly | Use target_compile_options or generator expressions | | Forgetting to mark header-only libs as INTERFACE | Use add_library(MyLib INTERFACE) | | Hardcoding paths to dependencies | Use find_package + config-mode | | Using file(GLOB) to collect sources | Explicitly list sources; glob misses new files | | Mixing build types (Debug/Release) | Out-of-source builds + presets | Real-World Example: A Small Library with Tests libs/math/CMakeLists.txt : mastering cmake pdf

# Different compile definitions per config target_compile_definitions(my_app PRIVATE $<$<CONFIG:Debug>:DEBUG_BUILD> $<$<CONFIG:Release>:NDEBUG> ) target_link_libraries(my_app PRIVATE $<$<PLATFORM_ID:Windows>:ws2_32> $<$<PLATFORM_ID:Linux>:dl> ) 2. Custom Commands and Targets Generate code or run tools: "configurePresets": [ "name": "debug"

add_library(math STATIC add.cpp multiply.cpp) target_include_directories(math PUBLIC $CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR/include) target_compile_features(math PUBLIC cxx_std_17) option(BUILD_MATH_EXAMPLES "Build math examples" OFF) if(BUILD_MATH_EXAMPLES) add_executable(calc_example examples/calc.cpp) target_link_libraries(calc_example PRIVATE math) endif() "cacheVariables": "CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE": "Debug"

add_library(utils STATIC utils.cpp) target_include_directories(utils PUBLIC include/private) # Both utils and my_app need it target_compile_definitions(utils PRIVATE UTILS_BUILD=1) add_executable(my_app main.cpp) target_link_libraries(my_app PRIVATE utils) # utils's PUBLIC includes propagate A master-level CMake project looks like this:

project/ ├── CMakeLists.txt (top-level) ├── cmake/ │ └── FindMyCustomLib.cmake ├── src/ │ ├── CMakeLists.txt │ └── app.cpp ├── libs/ │ ├── core/ │ │ ├── CMakeLists.txt │ │ └── core.cpp │ └── utils/ │ ├── CMakeLists.txt │ └── utils.h (header-only) └── tests/ ├── CMakeLists.txt └── test_core.cpp cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.20) project(MyProject VERSION 1.0.0 LANGUAGES CXX) Options option(BUILD_TESTS "Build unit tests" ON) option(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS "Build shared libs instead of static" OFF) Global settings set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17) set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON) set(CMAKE_CXX_EXTENSIONS OFF) Add subdirectories add_subdirectory(libs/core) add_subdirectory(libs/utils) add_subdirectory(src)