Book Image

Modern CMake for C++

By : Rafał Świdziński
5 (2)
Book Image

Modern CMake for C++

5 (2)
By: Rafał Świdziński

Overview of this book

Creating top-notch software is an extremely difficult undertaking. Developers researching the subject have difficulty determining which advice is up to date and which approaches have already been replaced by easier, better practices. At the same time, most online resources offer limited explanation, while also lacking the proper context and structure. This book offers a simpler, more comprehensive, experience as it treats the subject of building C++ solutions holistically. Modern CMake for C++ is an end-to-end guide to the automatization of complex tasks, including building, testing, and packaging. You'll not only learn how to use the CMake language in CMake projects, but also discover what makes them maintainable, elegant, and clean. The book also focuses on the structure of source directories, building targets, and packages. As you progress, you’ll learn how to compile and link executables and libraries, how those processes work, and how to optimize builds in CMake for the best results. You'll understand how to use external dependencies in your project – third-party libraries, testing frameworks, program analysis tools, and documentation generators. Finally, you'll get to grips with exporting, installing, and packaging for internal and external purposes. By the end of this book, you’ll be able to use CMake confidently on a professional level.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
1
Section 1: Introducing CMake
5
Section 2: Building With CMake
10
Section 3: Automating With CMake

Chapter 8: Testing Frameworks

Tenured professionals know that testing has to be automated. Someone explained that to them years ago or they learned the hard way. This practice isn't as obvious to inexperienced programmers: it seems unnecessary, additional work that doesn't bring much value. No wonder: when someone is just starting writing code, they'll avoid writing complex solutions and contributing to vast code bases. Most likely, they're the sole developer on their pet project. These early projects hardly ever need more than a few months to complete, so there's hardly any opportunity to see how code rots over a longer period.

All these factors contribute toward the notion that writing tests is a waste of time and effort. The programming apprentice may say to themselves that they actually do test their code each time they execute the "build-and-run" routine. After all, they have manually confirmed that their code works and does what's expected...