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researching the subject have difficulty determining which advice is up to date and which approaches have already been replaced by easier, better practices.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

Section 2: Building With CMake

Now that we have the most essential skills, it's time to start diving a little deeper. The next part will allow you to solve most situations that come your way when building a project in CMake.

We purposely focus on modern, elegant practices and avoid bringing too much legacy into the picture. Specifically, we'll be dealing with logical build targets rather than manipulating individual files.

Next, we'll explain in detail all the steps that the toolchain takes to build a binary artifact from a target. That's the part many books about C++ are missing: how to configure and use preprocessors, compilers, and linkers properly, as well as how to optimize their behavior.

Lastly, this section will cover all the different ways in which CMake offers to manage dependencies, and will explain how to pick the best one for your specific use case.

This section comprises the following chapters: