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CMake Best Practices for Modern C++ Projects

C++Build Systems

CMake is the de facto build system for C++ projects. Here’s how to use it effectively.

Modern CMake (3.15+)

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.15)
project(MyApp VERSION 1.0.0 LANGUAGES CXX)

# Set C++ standard
set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)
set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)

# Create executable
add_executable(myapp
    src/main.cpp
    src/utils.cpp
)

# Link libraries
target_link_libraries(myapp PRIVATE
    pthread
    fmt::fmt
)

# Include directories
target_include_directories(myapp PRIVATE
    ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/include
)

Finding Dependencies

# Find system libraries
find_package(Threads REQUIRED)
find_package(Boost 1.70 REQUIRED COMPONENTS filesystem)

# Link
target_link_libraries(myapp PRIVATE
    Threads::Threads
    Boost::filesystem
)

Creating Libraries

# Static library
add_library(mylib STATIC
    src/lib.cpp
)

# Shared library
add_library(mylib SHARED
    src/lib.cpp
)

# Header-only library
add_library(mylib INTERFACE)
target_include_directories(mylib INTERFACE include/)

Compiler Warnings

target_compile_options(myapp PRIVATE
    $<$<CXX_COMPILER_ID:GNU,Clang>:-Wall -Wextra -Wpedantic>
    $<$<CXX_COMPILER_ID:MSVC>:/W4>
)

Testing

enable_testing()

add_executable(tests test/main_test.cpp)
target_link_libraries(tests PRIVATE mylib GTest::gtest_main)

add_test(NAME MyTests COMMAND tests)

Installation

install(TARGETS myapp
    RUNTIME DESTINATION bin
    LIBRARY DESTINATION lib
    ARCHIVE DESTINATION lib
)

install(DIRECTORY include/
    DESTINATION include
)

Best Practices

  1. Use target-based commands (target_link_libraries not link_libraries)
  2. Avoid global settings (use target_* not set)
  3. Use generator expressions for platform-specific settings
  4. Version your CMake (cmake_minimum_required)
  5. Export targets for library consumers

What CMake patterns do you use? Share your tips!

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