Topics related to Make, CMake, and CMakeScript are appropriate for this portion of our programming web guide.
CMakeScript is a scripting language that is used to make CMake files, used to generate build systems for software projects. CMakeScript has a syntax similar to that of C but with some differences and extensions.
CMakeScript allows developers to define variables, functions, commands, and control structures to specify how to build their projects. CMakeScript can be used to run scripts, modules, and tools to provide additional functionality for CMake.
CMake is a cross-platform build system generator that helps developers build, test, and package software. CMakeScript is the scripting language used to write CMakeLists.txt files or standalone scripts. CMakeScript can also be used to run commands or tools from the command line using the -P or -E options of CMake.
CMake is an open-source, cross-platform family of tools used to build, test, and package software. With CMake, developers have control of the software compilation process using simple independent configuration files. Unlike some other cross-platform systems, CMake is intended to be used in conjunction with the native build environment.
CMake can generate build files for various IDEs (integrated development environments) and build tools, such as Visual Studio, Xcode, Ninja, and NMake. CMake can also handle complex dependencies and configurations more easily than Make. CMake can perform compiler-independent tests, packaging, and installation of software.
CMake uses scripts called CMakeLists.txt to specify how to compile and link the source files into executables and libraries. CMakeLists.txt files can also use a scripting language called CMakeScript.
Make is a tool that automates the process of building executable programs and libraries from source code. It uses a file called a makefile, which specifies the dependencies and commands for each target file. Make can be used to manage any project where some files need to be updated automatically from other files whenever the other files change.
Although IDEs and language-specific compiler features can also be used to manage a build process, Make is still widely used, particularly in Unix and Unix-like operating systems.
Advantages of CMake over Make are that CMAke can generate build files for various IDEs and build tools, as mentioned above. CMake can handle complex dependencies and configurations more easily than Make, and it can also perform compiler-independent tests, packaging, and installation of software.
However, CMake requires the extra step of generating the build files before building the software, it has a steeper learning curve than Make, and it may not support some features and options specific to some compilers or platforms.
CMakeScript is the scripting language for CMake.
CMake is cross-platform, free and open-source software, available under the BSD-3 Clause license.
Make was introduced in April of 1976, while CMake was released in 2000.
Recommended Resources
A Step-by-Step Guide to Install CMake on Linux
Published on Linux for Devices, the article teaches how to install CMake, a cross-platform, open-source, meta-build system to build, test, and package software, on Linux. Two methods are covered: using a package manager like apt/dnf, which may differ depending on the type of Linux; and using CMake's official website via a shell script (.sh file) or a tar.gz archive. Then, the tutorial covers making a sample CMake project, in this case, the traditional "Hello World" script.
https://www.linuxfordevices.com/tutorials/linux/install-cmake-on-linux
This is the official website for CMake, an open-source, cross-platform family of tools designed to build, test, and package software. Its history, features, news, and updates regarding the platform, custom or pre-paid support services, custom or scheduled training programs, a step-by-step tutorial, a textbook on mastering CMake, live training courses, manual pages, and a handbook for CMake users, are featured, along with documentation, a community wiki, a community forum, and contacts.
https://cmake.org/
CMake Projects in Visual Studio
CMake has become more and more integrated with Visual Studio over the past few releases, as Visual Studio's native support for CMake allows developers to edit, build, and debug CMake projects on Windows, the Windows Subsystem for Linux, and remote systems from the same instance of Visual Studio. Instructions for developing CMake projects in Visual Studio are provided on the Microsoft website, including installation, IDE integration, configuration, and building.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/build/cmake-projects-in-visual-studio
The official tutorial provides a step-by-step guide that covers common build system issues that CMake helps address. Seeing how various topics all work together in an example project can be helpful. The documentation and source code for examples are listed in the Tutorial directory of the CMake source code tree, and each step has its own directory with code that can be used as a starting point. Tutorial examples are progressive, with each step providing the solution for the previous step.
https://cmake.org/cmake/help/book/mastering-cmake/cmake/Help/guide/tutorial/
CMake vs. Make: What's the Difference?
Earthly is a build automation tool that aims to make builds simple, providing fast, consistent builds with a similar syntax to Dockerfile and Makefile. Written by Ndafara Tsamba and published on Earthly on July 19, 2023, this article examines the differences between Make and CMake, both of which Earthly can add reproducibility and efficient caching to. This article describes ways of using Make and CMake in a project and views their differences with examples of each.
https://earthly.dev/blog/cmake-vs-make-diff/
Get Started with CMake Tools on Linux
Published on the Visual Studio Code website, this tutorial states the prerequisites for completing the tutorial on Ubuntu. During the course of the tutorial, users will learn to use the CMake Tools extension for Visual Studio Code to configure, build, and debug a simple C++ CMake project on Linux. Aside from installing CMake, the compiler, debugger, and built tools, the steps generally apply to using CMake on other platforms, like Windows. Links to other resources are included.
https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/cpp/cmake-linux
The focus of this website is to provide a comprehensive guide to help users understand Makefiles. It includes a series of self-contained examples that users can run themselves, although it covers a variety of topics, such as the basics of why Makefiles exist and how they work. The site discusses alternatives to Make, such as CMake and others, as well as the versions and types of Make. Included is a Makefile Cookbook that provides an example of a Makefile that will work well for most projects.
https://makefiletutorial.com/
LLVM Compiler Infrastructure: Building LLVM with CMake
A Low-Level Virtual Machine (LLVM) is a collection of modular and reusable compiler and toolchain technologies with a wide range of applications. This tutorial is targeted at users of the LLVM CMake build. CMake is a cross-platform build-generator tool that generates the files needed by the build tool. An introduction, a quick start, basic CMake usage, options and variables, CMake caches, executing the tests, cross-compiling, and embedding LVM are covered in this tutorial.
https://llvm.org/docs/CMake.html
LLVM Compiler Infrastructure: CMake Primer
The LLVM Compiler Infrastructure supports a wide range of projects, from industrial strength compilers to specialized JIT applications, to small research projects. Its tutorial on the use of CMake is written by LLVM project contributors not affiliated with the CMake project, although many of LLVM's core projects use CMake. Included is an introduction, a scripting overview, variables, control flow, modules, functions, and macros, as well as LLVM project wrappers.
https://llvm.org/docs/CMakePrimer.html
RIP Tutorial: Getting Started with CMake
CMake is a tool for defining and managing code builds, primarily for C++. As a cross-platform tool, CMake creates a single definition of how the project is built, translating into specific build definitions for any supported platform. This process is described here, as well as getting started with CMake, versions, adding directories to the compiler, building configurations, building targets, CMake integration in GitHub CI tools, compiling features, and so on.
https://riptutorial.com/cmake
Udemy is an online learning and teaching platform that offers courses in nearly seventy-five languages on a wide variety of topics. Created by Dennis Groß, the course includes an introduction to CMake, advanced CMake topics, CMake programming, and CTest. A description of the course, requirements, and a list of other relevant courses that a student may be interested in. A 30-day money-back guarantee and special offers when training two or more people are offered.
https://www.udemy.com/course/introduction-to-cmake/
Using the Make Utility and Makefiles in Linux
Published in the Linux Handbook, which focuses on the server side of Linux, this is a beginner's guide to using the Make command in Linux. The Make utility is one of the handiest utilities for a programmer. Its primary purpose is to compile a medium-to-large software project. In this tutorial, users will learn the purpose of the Make command, the installation of the Make command in the various forms of Linux, and how to create and use the Makefile in a sample C project.
https://linuxhandbook.com/using-make/
