A curated list of awesome CMake scripts, modules, examples and others
Your contributions are highly welcome (first see CONTRIBUTING.md).
There is another file NonModernCMake.md
with other links worth taking a look, but they use obsolete practices which are considered non-modern - like not using target_*
-based dependency management - see #16
and #42
for more details.
Contents
- Community
- Resources
- Package Management / Build Systems
- Modules
- Utility Scripts
- Toolchains
- Examples / Templates
- Other
Community
Resources
- Latest Documentation
- FAQ
- Wiki
- Webinars
- Web Book - CGold: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the CMake.
[BSD2]
- Modern CMake - Modern CMake PDF and samples by the creator of cmakepp.
[MIT]
- Tutorial - Modern CMake tutorials part1: CMake basics
- Article - Easily supporting CMake install and find_package().
- Article - Easy dependency management for C++ with CMake and Git.
- Article - Opt-in header-only libraries with CMake.
- Article - Ultimate Guide to Modern CMake.
- Article - A list of common CMake antipatterns (from 2013 but still relevant).
- Article - How to Build a CMake-Based Project.
- Article - Learn CMake's Scripting Language in 15 Minutes.
- Article - The architecture of CMake.
- Lecture - Effective CMake - by Daniel Pfeifer, C++Now 2017.
- Article - Building Cross-Platform CUDA Applications with CMake.
- Tutorial - A step-by-step guide for understanding CMake.
- Article + Lecture - Embracing Modern CMake - by Stephen Kelly.
- Lecture - Modern CMake for Modular Design - by Mathieu Ropert, CppCon 2017.
- Article - It's Time To Do CMake Right (one of the best articles about CMake).
- Articles - A series on CMake - by Martin Hořeňovský
- Lecture - Introduction to CMake - by Florent Castelli, C++ Sweden 2018.
- Article - Some nice and accurate CMake tips.
- Article - Modern CMake for Library Developers.
- Article - Effective Modern CMake: a great summary of most good practices - by Manuel Binna.
- Book - Professional CMake: A Practical Guide (paid).
- Book - Effective CMake: Practical Advice to Write Better CMake (not fully written yet).
- Web Book - An Introduction to Modern CMake.
- YouTube Series - How to CMake Good.
[CC0-1.0]
- Lecture - More Modern CMake (slides & examples)- by Deniz Bahadir, Meeting C++ 2018.
- Lecture - Oh No! More Modern CMake (slides)- by Deniz Bahadir, Meeting C++ 2019.
- Article - Modifying the default CMake build types/flags, toolchains and patches - Oh my! - by Cristian Adam.
- Tutorial - Tutorial and Example on How to Properly Use Modern CMake.
Package Management / Build Systems
- hunter - Cross-platform package manager for C++ (based on CMake ExternalProject).
[BSD2]
- cget - CMake package retrieval. This can be used to download and install CMake packages.
[BOOST]
- cppan - C++ Archive Network - C++ Package Manager based on CMake, implemented in C++14.
[APACHE2]
- cpm - C++ Package Manager based on CMake and Git.
[MIT]
- conan - Conan C++ Package Manager, implemented in Python and has a CMake integration backend.
[MIT]
- fips - High-level build system/dependency management for distributed, multi-platform C/C++ projects.
[MIT]
- Ninja - Build system that differs from others in two major respects: it is designed to have its input files generated by a higher-level build system (like CMake), and it is designed to run builds as fast as possible.
[APACHE2]
- vcpkg - A tool to acquire and build C++ open source libraries. Uses CMake internally as a build script language.
[MIT]
- pmm - PMM is a module for CMake that manages... package managers.
[MIT]
- cpm - A setup-free CMake + git dependency manager.
[MIT]
Modules
- cmake-modules - Ryan Pavlik's collection of CMake modules. There are a number of find modules, especially for virtual reality and physical simulation, some utility modules, and some patches or workarounds for CMake itself.
[BOOST]
- cmake-modules - This is a collection of additional CMake modules. Most of them are from Ryan Pavlik.
[BOOST]
- CMake - Eyescale's common CMake modules.
[BSD3]
- cmake-modules - CMake modules for some scientific libraries.
[BSD2]
- cgcmake - CMake modules for common applications related to computer graphics.
[MIT]
- FindMathematica - CMake module for Mathematica.
[MIT]
- extra-cmake-modules - KDE's extra modules and scripts for CMake.
[BSD3]
- FindICU.cmake - CMake module to find International Components for Unicode (ICU) Library.
[BSD2]
- FindTBB - CMake find module for Intel Threading Building Blocks.
[MIT]
- FindWiX - CMake module for building Windows Installer packages with WiX toolset.
[BSD3]
- FindIDL - CMake module for building IDL files with MIDL and generating CLR DLL using Tlbimp.
[MIT]
- cmake-modules - hanjianwei's CMake module collection.
[MIT]
- YCM - Extra CMake Modules for Yet Another Robot Platform and friends.
[BSD3]
- CMakeCM - CMake Community Modules.
[NO LICENSE]
- Metabench - CMake module for compile-time microbenchmarks.
[BOOST]
Utility Scripts
These provide a wide range of functionality - from dealing with compiler flags to using tools. Some also contain modules.
- cotire - Cotire (compile time reducer) is a CMake module that speeds up the build process of CMake based build systems by fully automating techniques as precompiled headers and unity builds for C and C++.
[MIT]
- ucm - For managing compiler/linker flags, collecting sources, precompiled headers, unity builds and others.
[MIT]
- cmakepp - Enhancement Suite for the CMake Build System.
[MIT]
- sugar - CMake tools and examples: collecting source files, warnings suppression, etc.
[BSD2]
- DownloadProject - CMake module for downloading an external project's source at configure time.
[MIT]
- buildem - Modular CMake-based system that leverages ExternalProject to simplify builds.
[LICENSE]
- coveralls-cmake - Coveralls JSON coverage generator and uploader for CMake.
[MIT]
- compatibility - Improved version of cmake-compile-features.
[LICENSE]
- cmake-modules - LibFindMacros development repository and other cool CMake stuff.
[LICENSE]
- GreatCMakeCookOff - This is a repository of useful and less than useful CMake recipes.
[MIT]
- cppcheck-target-cmake - Per-target CPPCheck for CMake.
[MIT]
- clang-tidy-target-cmake - Add clang-tidy checks to a target using CMake.
[MIT]
- cmake-unit - Unit testing framework for CMake.
[MIT]
- cmake-header-language - CMake macro to determine the language of a header file.
[MIT]
- tooling-cmake-util - Utility and common library for all polysquare CMake tools.
[MIT]
- iwyu-target-cmake - CMake integration for include-what-you-use.
[MIT]
- sanitizers-cmake - CMake module to enable sanitizers for binary targets.
[MIT]
- cmake-precompiled-header - Visual Studio and GCC precompiled header macro.
[LICENSE]
- CMakePCHCompiler - CMake precompiled headers via custom compiler extension - with reuse support!
[MIT]
- CMake-codecov - Enables code coverage and generates coverage reports with CMake targets.
[GPL]
- cmake-get - Get dependencies in config or script mode.
[NO LICENSE]
- ixm - Make CMake less painful when trying to write Modern Flexible CMake.
[MIT]
- CMakeCooking - Flexible development environments for CMake projects with external dependencies
.
[APACHE2]
Toolchains
- dockcross - Cross compiling toolchains in Docker images.
[MIT]
- android-cmake - CMake toolchain file and other scripts for the Android NDK.
[BSD3]
- ios-cmake - Toolchain file and examples using CMake for iOS development.
[BSD3]
- qt-android-cmake - For building and deploying Qt based apps on Android without QtCreator.
[LICENSE]
- mingw-w64-cmake - CMake-based MinGW-w64 Cross Toolchain - to build Windows binaries of mpv.
[ISC]
- cmake-avr - CMake toolchain for AVR.
[LICENSE]
- arduino-cmake - This is the CMake project settings for the Arduino platform.
[MPL]
- polly - Collection of CMake toolchain files and scripts for cross-platform build and CI testing.
[BSD2]
- toolchains - For cross-compiling with CMake. They are meant to be mainly used on ArchLinux.
[NO LICENSE]
- cmake - Collection of CMake toolchain files, mostly for static linking.
[APACHE2]
- Arduino-CMake-Toolchain - CMake toolchain for all official and 3rd party Arduino platforms.
[MIT]
Examples / Templates
- cmake-init - Template for reliable, cross-platform C++ project setup using CMake.
[LICENSE]
- android-cmake - Examples of using ruslo/hunter package manager for an Android application.
[BSD2]
- hunter-simple - Example of downloading/installing dependencies using ruslo/hunter package manager.
[BSD2]
- package-example - Config mode of find_package (examples for this Stack Overflow question).
[NO LICENSE]
- minimal_cmake_example - Minimal CMake example, that covers dependencies and packaging.
[CC0-1.0]
- cmake-example - Example project which demonstrates various CMake features.
[BSD3]
- cmake-examples - Useful CMake examples in a tutorial format.
[MIT]
- mini-cmake-qt - Minimal CMake template for Qt 5 projects.
[LICENSE]
- BASIS - CMake BASIS makes it easy to create sharable software and libraries that work together.
[BSD2]
- cpp-boilerplate - Template that aims to be a reference for modern CMake and CI.
[MIT]
- how-to-export-cpp-library - An OS-agnostic template project for exporting either shared, static or header-only C++ library, sporting ctest and CI support, written in plain CMake with line-by-line tutorial comments.
[MIT]
- modern-cmake-sample - Best practices and proper usage of CMake by using targets.
[NO LICENSE]
- CMakeInstallExample - Installation example for a C++ project (Windows) with Cmake.
[NO LICENSE]
- cpp14-project-template - A C++14 template with CI, tests, code coverage, docs and static analysis integration.
[CC0-1.0]
- cmake_templates - Templates for creating C++ libraries and executables (including conan).
[NO LICENSE]
- cmake_snippets - Short copy-pasteable CMake snippets.
[BSD3]
- cmake-cookbook - A huge CMake cookbook full of recipes.
[MIT]
- cpp-template - A template C++ repository, using CMake and Catch.
[NO LICENSE]
- pitchfork - A set of conventions for native C and C++ projects.
[MIT]
- cmake-examples - A collection of as simple as possible, modern CMake projects.
[MIT]
- cpp-project - Boiler plate for C++ projects - tests, CI, coverage, docs.
[UNLICENSE]
- ModernCppStarter - A template for modern C++ projects using CMake, CI, code coverage, clang-format, reproducible dependency management, tests using doctest and much more.
[UNLICENSE]
Other
- autocmake - Using a autocmake.yml file Autocmake composes CMake building blocks into a CMake project and generates CMakeLists.txt as well as a setup script, which serves as a front-end to CMakeLists.txt.
[BSD3]
- UseLATEX - Collection of CMake macros to simplify building LaTeX files.
[BSD3]
- scikit-build - Improved build system generator for CPython C extensions.
[MIT]
- node-cmake - CMake-based build system for node.js native modules.
[ISC]
- cmake-font-lock - Advanced syntax coloring support for CMake scripts inside Emacs.
[GPL]
- autovala - Program that automatically generates CMake configuration files for your Vala project.
[GPL]
- catkin - CMake-based build system that is used to build all packages in Robot Operating System (ROS).
[BSD3]
- suitesparse-metis-for-windows - CMake scripts for painless usage of SuiteSparse+METIS.
[BSD3]
- osg-3rdparty-cmake - CMake scripts for building OpenSceneGraph third party libraries.
[MIXED LICENSE]
- cmake-d - CMake for D2.
[MIT]
- cmakeprojectmanager2 - Enhanced CMake Project Manager plugin for Qt Creator.
[NO LICENSE]
- cmake-lint - Check for coding style issues in CMake files. cmakelint requires Python.
[APACHE2]
- git-cmake-format - Integrate clang-format into your CMake project hosted in a git repository.
[LICENSE]
- configure-cmake - configure-cmake is an autotools-style configure script for CMake-based projects.
[CC0-1.0]
- cmake-ast - Python module to reduce a CMake file to an AST.
[MIT]
- cmake-checks-cache - CMake checks cache helper modules.
[MIT]
- cmake_check - Static analysis (linter) for the CMake language (e.g. to enforce modern CMake rules).
[MIT]
- cmake-language-server - CMake Language Server Protocol Implementation.
[MIT]
- cmake-maven-plugin - CMake integration for Maven builds.
[APACHE2]
License
This is released under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
License (CC BY 4.0)
.