CMake Template

This is a beginner friendly cmake for C projects. while it's not by all means the "best" approach but it's clearly crafted together and commented for you to be able to adjust it to your needs.

Structure

• cmake any utility and re-usable files for your cmakes goes here.
• extern folder is where you put your external dependencies, as an example I have used clove-unit library for unit testing.
• include is where you put your exported header files.
• src is where your .c files must be placed.
• tests are written using clove-unit framework which is a lightweight and single header library.

👉 NOTE: You can refer to here for more information about clove-unit.

👉 NOTE: There is also .clang-format available for you to use.

👉 NOTE: All the build artifacts will be placed in out folder, all the build artifacts for tests will be placed in out_tests folder.

CMakeLists.txt files

By reading their source codes as they are fully commented you can understand pretty much everything you need.

But the main workflow of using this template is like this:

• in main CMakeLists.txt:

  1. Rename project name in line 12.
  2. Rename your desired executable file main_exe_file on lines 20, 25, 37 and 46.
  3. Every time you add a new .c file you add it in EXECUTABLE TARGETS section to one or more of your executable files.
  4. If you want to add another Target aka. executable or library feel free to repeat what's on lines 20 to 23 also make sure to rename the variables to meet your needs.
  5. In case you want also to enable pre build testing meaning re-building and running tests every time you build certain target look at line 37.

• Testing (tests/CMakeLists.txt):

  1. You create a new .c file in tests folder, name it like test_<whatever>.c, it's for readability but you don't have to.
  2. Follow clove-unit library guide and write your test.
  3. use add_clove_test with the exact name test_<whatever> without .c in CMakeLists.txt of tests directory to register your test.
  4. 👉 NOTE: Make sure to read the guide in the tests folder cmake file.

• Visual Studio Code Users:

  1. Make sure C/C++ and CMake Tools extensions are installed.
  2. If you're on Windows and you haven't installed your tools yet, make sure to check out here.
  3. Just open the folder like normal and let the magic happen.

• CodeBlocks and Visual Studio 2022 Users:

  1. You need to create corresponding projects first.
  2. Open terminal in the folder (make sure you've deleted build folder if it already exists):
     1. Enter cmake -B build -G"CodeBlocks - Unix Makefiles" if you need CodeBlocks project.
     2. Enter cmake -B build -G"Visual Studio 17 2022" if you need Visual Studio project.
  3. Now open up the build folder and you can find project or solution for your IDE.

• KDevelop Users just open the folder and the IDE itself recognizes the CMakeLists.txt and will guide you through it.

• Adding Configurations to define macros:

  You can use define_macro_option(<target name> <macro name in your code> <default value ON/OFF>) after your executables or libraries. this will add <target name>_ENABLE_<macro name you've provided> cmake option.

  👉 Example: Checkout usage example and its corresponding effect in the main source.

• Adding post build file copy:

  You can use define_post_built_copy(<target name> <relative destination> <files...>) to enable copying of any files relative to executables or libraries.

  👉 NOTE: no ./ is needed in destination, pass "" if you want the files being copied to the root of the output directory.

  👉 Example: Checkout usage example.

Raylib Helper

Looking at the official cmake template of the raylib I thought it might be good to add it to my template as well.

As it is mentioned in the line 7 you can remove that line when your project don't need raylib.

Enabling raylib is as simple as just using enable_raylib_for command like enable_raylib_for(game_example) at line 31.

👉 NOTE: To include and manage your resources, use resources folder with a subfolder per game project.

Resources for learning CMake

Check out this place. it's a good book and I highly recommend you to read it if you want to get more into cmake.

Third-party Libraries

• Clove-Unit (MIT License - Copyright (c) 2021-2024 Federico De Felici)

License

BSD 3-Clause License

Copyright (c) 2024, Navid Dezashibi navid@dezashibi.com

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.

2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.

3. Neither the name of the copyright holder nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.

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