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Writing Makefiles might be harder than writing CMake scripts. These projects can be separated build processes for libraries or extra methods for complex, multi-module projects. cmake files can also define modules for projects. cmake files can be used as scripts, which runs cmake command to prepare environment pre-processing or split tasks which can be written outside of CMakeLists.txt. If there are multiple modules, and each module can be compiled and built separately, CMakeLists.txt can be inserted into the sub folder.CMakeLists.txt is placed at the root of the source tree of any application, library it will work for.CMakeLists.txt file is placed at the source of the project you want to build.But as a best practice, main script is named as CMakeLists.txt instead of cmake.
Using cmake linux software#
CMake itself is a software program, so it should be invoked with the script file to interpret and generate actual build file.Ī developer can write either simple or complex building scripts using CMake language for the projects.īuild logic and definitions with CMake language is written either in CMakeLists.txt or a file ends with. CMake as a Scripting LanguageĬMake intended to be a cross-platform build process manager so it defines it is own scripting language with certain syntax and built-in features. It is always a good practice to read open source projects, which are widely used to learn about the best practices. Here is a list of popular open source projects using CMake for build purposes: This information is gathered into the cache, which may be changed by the user prior to the generation of the native build files.ĬMake scripts also make source management easier because it simplifies build script into one file and more organized, readable format. For example, while CMake is running, it locates include files, libraries, and executables, and may encounter optional build directives. Another nice feature of CMake is that it can generates a cache file that is designed to be used with a graphical editor. CMake supports in-place and out-of-place builds, and can therefore support multiple builds from a single source tree.ĬMake has supports for static and dynamic library builds.
Using cmake linux windows#
Simple configuration files placed in each source directory (called CMakeLists.txt files) are used to generate standard build files (e.g., Makefiles on Unix and projects/workspaces in Windows MSVC) which are used in the usual way.ĬMake can generate a native build environment that will compile source code, create libraries, generate wrappers and build executable binaries in arbitrary combinations. Unlike many cross-platform systems, CMake is designed to be used in conjunction with the native build environment. CMake is an extensible, open-source system that manages the build process in an operating system and in a compiler-independent manner.
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