CMake Cookbook

▶Book Description
CMake is a cross-platform, open-source tool for building software in a compiler-free method. CMake Cookbook features a collection of recipes and building blocks with tips and techniques for working with CMake, CTest, CPack, and CDash.

This book includes real-world examples in the form of recipes that cover different ways to configure, build, and test small- to large-scale code projects. You will learn to use CMake's command-line tools and master modern CMake practices for configuring, building, and testing binaries and libraries. With this book, you will be able to work with external libraries and structure your own projects in a modular and reusable way. You will be well-equipped to generate native build scripts for Linux, MacOS, and Windows, simplify and refactor projects using CMake, and port projects to CMake.

By the end of this book, you will have progressed through CMake and understood all its components.

▶What You Will Learn
⦁ Configure, build, and install code projects using CMake
⦁ Detect operating systems, processors, and programs for conditional compilation
⦁ Increase the portability of your code
⦁ Refactor a large codebase into modules with the help of CMake
⦁ Build multi-language projects
⦁ Tweak CMake configuration files written by somebody else
⦁ Package projects for distribution
⦁ Port projects to CMake

▶Key Features
⦁ Configure, build, and package software written in C, C++, and Fortran
⦁ Progress from simple to advanced tasks with examples tested on Linux, macOS, and Windows
⦁ Manage code complexity and library dependencies with reusable CMake building blocks

▶Who This Book Is For
If you are a software developer keen to manage build systems using CMake or would like to understand and modify CMake code written by others, the CMake Cookbook is for you. Basic knowledge of C++, C, or Fortran is required to understand the topics covered in this book.

▶What this book covers
⦁ Chapter 1, From a Simple Executable to Libraries, shows how to get started configuring and building simple executables and libraries with CMake.

⦁ Chapter 2, Detecting the Environment, explains how to interact with the operating system and processor architecture using simple CMake commands.

⦁ Chapter 3, Detecting External Libraries and Programs, shows how CMake can simplify the detection of dependencies for your project.

⦁ Chapter 4, Creating and Running Tests, explains how to harness the power of CMake and CTest to define and run tests.

⦁ Chapter 5, Configure-time and Build-time Operations, shows how to perform custom operations at different stages of the build process with cross-platform CMake commands.

⦁ Chapter 6, Generating Source Code, discusses CMake commands to automatically generate source code.

⦁ Chapter 7, Structuring Projects, shows powerful CMake syntax for organizing your projects to make them more maintainable.

⦁ Chapter 8, The Superbuild Pattern, explains the powerful CMake superbuild pattern for managing critical project dependencies with control over side effects.

⦁ Chapter 9, Mixed-language Projects, shows how to build projects mixing different programming languages with the help of CMake.

⦁ Chapter 10, Writing an Installer, takes care of the installation of projects with the crossplatform power of CMake.

⦁ Chapter 11, Packaging Projects, shows how to use CPack to produce source and platformnative source archives and how to build Python and Conda packages for distribution.

⦁ Chapter 12, Building Documentation, shows how to use CMake to also build the documentation for your code.

⦁ Chapter 13, Alternative Generators and Cross-compilation, shows how to use CMake to crosscompile projects between platforms.

⦁ Chapter 14, Testing Dashboards, shows how to report the results of tests to an online dashboard.

⦁ Chapter 15, Porting a Project to CMake, shows best practices, tips, and tricks that will help you port a project to a CMake-based build system.