💾 Archived View for 80h.dev › agena › gopherpedia.com › 0 › CMake captured on 2020-09-24 at 00:49:11.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
======================================================================
= CMake =
======================================================================
Introduction
======================================================================
CMake is a cross-platform free and open-source software tool for
managing the build process of software using a compiler-independent
method. It supports directory hierarchies and applications that depend
on multiple libraries. It is used in conjunction with native build
environments such as Make, Qt Creator, Ninja, Apple's Xcode, and
Microsoft Visual Studio. It has minimal dependencies, requiring only a
C++ compiler on its own build system.
Features
======================================================================
CMake can handle in-place and out-of-place builds, enabling several
builds from the same source tree, and cross-compilation. The ability
to build a directory tree outside the source tree is a key feature,
ensuring that if a build directory is removed, the source files remain
unaffected.
CMake can locate executables, files, and libraries. These locations
are stored in a cache, which can then be tailored before generating
the target build files. The cache can be edited with a graphical
editor, which is included in the project.
Complicated directory hierarchies and applications that rely on
several libraries are well supported by CMake. For instance, CMake is
able to accommodate a project that has multiple toolkits, or libraries
that each have multiple directories. In addition, CMake can work with
projects that require executables to be created before generating code
to be compiled for the final application. Its open-source, extensible
design allows CMake to be adapted as necessary for specific projects.
CMake can generate project files for several prominent IDEs, such as
Microsoft Visual Studio, Xcode, and Eclipse CDT. It can also produce
build scripts for MSBuild or NMake on Windows; Unix Make on Unix-like
platforms such as Linux, macOS, and Cygwin; and Ninja on both Windows
and Unix-like platforms.
Build process
======================================================================
The build process with CMake takes place in two stages. First,
standard build files are created from configuration files. Then the
platform's native build tools are used for the actual building.
Each build project contains a CMakeLists.txt file, in every
(sub)directory, that controls the build process. The CMakeLists.txt
file has one or more commands in the form COMMAND (args...), with
COMMAND representing the name of each command and args the list of
arguments, each separated by whitespace. While there are many built-in
rules for compiling the software libraries (static and dynamic) and
executables, there are also provisions for custom build rules. Some
build dependencies can be determined automatically. Advanced users can
also create and incorporate additional makefile generators to support
their specific compiler and OS needs.
Internals
======================================================================
The executable programs CMake, CPack, and CTest are written in the C++
programming language.
Much of CMake's functionality is implemented in modules that are
written in the CMake language.
Since release 3.0, CMake's documentation uses reStructuredText markup.
HTML pages and man pages are generated by the Sphinx documentation
generator.
History
======================================================================
CMake development began in 1999 in response to the need for a
cross-platform build environment for the Insight Segmentation and
Registration Toolkit. The project is funded by the United States
National Library of Medicine as part of the Visible Human Project. It
was partially inspired by pcmaker, which was made by Ken Martin and
other developers to support the Visualization Toolkit (VTK). At
Kitware, Bill Hoffman blended components of pcmaker with his own
ideas, striving to mimic the functionality of Unix configure scripts.
CMake was first implemented in 2000 and further developed in 2001.
Continued development and improvements were fueled by the
incorporation of CMake into developers’ own systems, including the VXL
Project, the CABLE features added by Brad King, and GE Corporate
R&D for support of DART. Additional features were created when VTK
transitioned to CMake for its build environment and for supporting
ParaView.
Version 3.0 was released in June 2014. It has been described as the
beginning of "Modern CMake".
Experts now advise to avoid variables in favor of 'targets' and
'properties'. The commands 'add_compile_options',
'include_directories', 'link_directories', 'link_libraries' that were
at the core of CMake 2 should now be replaced by target-specific
commands.
CPack
======================================================================
CPack is a packaging system for software distributions which is
tightly integrated with CMake, but can function without it.
It can be used to generate: