Dev Cmake

CMake & Make Expert

Write build files that are elegant because the understanding is deep. Every line should have a reason. Simplicity comes from mastery, not shortcuts.

Core Philosophy

Targets are everything. Modern CMake is about targets and properties, not variables and directories. Think of targets as objects with member functions and properties.

Explicit over implicit. Always specify PRIVATE, PUBLIC, or INTERFACE. Never rely on inherited directory-level settings.

Minimal surface area. Expose only what consumers need. Default to PRIVATE; use PUBLIC only when downstream targets genuinely require it.

CMake: The Principal Engineer Approach

Project Structure

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.16)
project(MyProject VERSION 1.0.0 LANGUAGES CXX)

# Set standards at target level, not globally
# Use compile features, not flags

Target Definition Pattern

add_library(mylib)
add_library(MyProject::mylib ALIAS mylib)

target_sources(mylib
    PRIVATE
        src/impl.cpp
    PUBLIC
        FILE_SET HEADERS
        BASE_DIRS include
        FILES include/mylib/api.h
)

target_compile_features(mylib PUBLIC cxx_std_17)

target_include_directories(mylib
    PUBLIC
        $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/include>
        $<INSTALL_INTERFACE:include>
)

What to Never Do

• include_directories() — use target_include_directories()
• link_directories() — use full paths or targets
• add_definitions() — use target_compile_definitions()
• link_libraries() — use target_link_libraries()
• CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS manipulation — use target_compile_options() or features
• file(GLOB) for sources — list files explicitly
• Bare library names in target_link_libraries() — use namespaced targets

Dependency Handling

For find_package dependencies:

find_package(Boost 1.70 REQUIRED COMPONENTS filesystem)
target_link_libraries(mylib PRIVATE Boost::filesystem)

For FetchContent (prefer over ExternalProject for CMake deps):

include(FetchContent)
FetchContent_Declare(fmt
    GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/fmtlib/fmt.git
    GIT_TAG 10.1.0
)
FetchContent_MakeAvailable(fmt)
target_link_libraries(mylib PRIVATE fmt::fmt)

Generator Expressions

Use for build/install path differences:

target_include_directories(mylib PUBLIC
    $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/include>
    $<INSTALL_INTERFACE:include>
)

Use for conditional compilation:

target_compile_definitions(mylib PRIVATE
    $<$<CONFIG:Debug>:DEBUG_MODE>
)

Make: The Principal Engineer Approach

Essential Structure

# Immediately expanded defaults
CC      ?= gcc
CXX     ?= g++
CFLAGS  ?= -Wall -Wextra -pedantic
LDFLAGS ?=

# Preserve user-provided flags
CFLAGS  += -MMD -MP

# Automatic dependency tracking
SRCS := $(wildcard src/*.c)
OBJS := $(SRCS:src/%.c=build/%.o)
DEPS := $(OBJS:.o=.d)

.PHONY: all clean

all: bin/program

bin/program: $(OBJS) | bin
	$(CC) $(LDFLAGS) -o $@ $^

build/%.o: src/%.c | build
	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c -o $@ $<

bin build:
	mkdir -p $@

clean:
	rm -rf build bin

-include $(DEPS)

Pattern Rules — The Elegant Way

# Single pattern rule replaces N explicit rules
%.o: %.c
	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) -c -o $@ $<

Automatic Variables (memorize these)

• $@ — target
• $< — first prerequisite
• $^ — all prerequisites (no duplicates)
• $+ — all prerequisites (with duplicates, for libs)
• $* — stem (matched by %)

What Makes Makefiles Elegant

1. Order-only prerequisites (| dir) for directory creation
2. -include for optional dependency files
3. ?= for overridable defaults, += to append
4. .PHONY for non-file targets
5. .DELETE_ON_ERROR to clean failed builds
6. Consistent variable naming (UPPERCASE for user-facing)

Reference Files

• references/cmake-patterns.md — Complete modern CMake patterns (library export, install, presets, toolchains)
• references/make-patterns.md — Advanced Make patterns (multi-directory, cross-compilation, dependencies)
• references/antipatterns.md — Common mistakes and their fixes

Quality Checklist

Before finalizing any build file:

CMake

• Every target has a namespaced alias
• All target_* calls specify scope (PRIVATE/PUBLIC/INTERFACE)
• No directory-level commands (include_directories, etc.)
• Generator expressions for build/install differences
• Version requirements on find_package
• cmake_minimum_required reflects actual features used

Make

• All variables use ?= or += appropriately
• Automatic dependency generation (-MMD -MP)
• Pattern rules instead of repeated explicit rules
• .PHONY declared for non-file targets
• Clean target removes all generated files
• Build artifacts in separate directory from source