How to Build Single Executable Binary With Cmake In Linux?

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To build a single executable binary with CMake in Linux, you first need to create a CMakeLists.txt file in the root directory of your project. In this file, you will define the project name, version, and the source files that need to be compiled.


Next, create a build directory and navigate to it using the command line. Run 'cmake ..' to generate the necessary build files.


Then, you can run 'make' to compile the source files and generate the executable binary. This binary will be located in the build directory.


You can also customize the build process by specifying compiler flags, include directories, and other options in the CMakeLists.txt file.


Overall, using CMake simplifies the build process and allows you to create a single executable binary for your project in Linux.

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How to specify the C++ standard in CMake for building a single executable binary?

To specify the C++ standard in CMake for building a single executable binary, you can use the CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD variable in your CMakeLists.txt file. Here's an example of how you can specify the C++ standard to C++11:

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cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.0)
project(MyProject)

# Set the C++ standard to C++11
set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 11)
set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)

# Add your source files
add_executable(MyExecutable main.cpp)


In this example, we are setting the CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD variable to 11 to specify that we want to build our project using the C++11 standard. You can change the value to 14, 17, or 20 depending on the C++ standard you want to use.


Save the CMakeLists.txt file, and then run cmake and make commands to build your project with the specified C++ standard:

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cmake .
make


This will build the executable binary using the specified C++ standard.


How to link libraries in CMake for building a single executable binary?

To link libraries in CMake for building a single executable binary, you can use the target_link_libraries command. Here's an example CMakeLists.txt file that demonstrates how to link libraries for building a single executable binary:

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cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.0)

project(MyProject)

# Add the executable binary
add_executable(MyExecutable main.cpp)

# Link the libraries
target_link_libraries(MyExecutable
    ${LIBRARY_NAME}
)


In this example, replace ${LIBRARY_NAME} with the actual name of the library you want to link. You can specify multiple libraries by separating them with spaces.


Make sure to replace main.cpp with the actual source file(s) for your project.


Run cmake . and make commands in your project directory to generate the build system and compile the project. This will link the specified libraries to the executable binary.


How to add custom commands in a CMakeLists.txt file?

To add custom commands in a CMakeLists.txt file, you can use the add_custom_command() or add_custom_target() functions provided by CMake.


Here is an example of how to add a custom command to compile a C source file:

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# Specify the source file
set(SOURCE_FILE example.c)

# Add a custom command to compile the source file
add_custom_command(
    OUTPUT ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/example.o
    COMMAND ${CMAKE_C_COMPILER} -c ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/${SOURCE_FILE}
    DEPENDS ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/${SOURCE_FILE}
    WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}
)

# Add a custom target to compile the source file
add_custom_target(compile_example DEPENDS ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/example.o)


In this example, we first specify the source file example.c, then add a custom command to compile it using the C compiler specified in the CMAKE_C_COMPILER variable. The add_custom_target() function creates a target called compile_example that depends on the custom command we added.


You can then build the custom target with the following command:

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cmake --build . --target compile_example


This will compile the source file example.c into an object file example.o.


How to configure CMake to use a specific compiler in Linux?

To configure CMake to use a specific compiler in Linux, you can set the CMAKE_C_COMPILER and CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER variables in your CMakeLists.txt file or by passing them as command line arguments when running CMake.


Here is an example of how you can set the compiler using CMake command line arguments:

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cmake -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=gcc -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=g++ path_to_source_directory


Alternatively, you can set the compiler in your CMakeLists.txt file like this:

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set(CMAKE_C_COMPILER gcc)
set(CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER g++)


Make sure to replace 'gcc' and 'g++' with the path to the specific compiler you want to use. After setting the compiler, you can generate the Makefiles or project files using CMake and then build your project with the specified compiler.


How to create a build configuration file using CMake in Linux?

To create a build configuration file using CMake in Linux, follow these steps:

  1. Create a new directory for your CMake project and navigate to it in your terminal.
  2. Create a CMakeLists.txt file in the project directory. You can create this file using a text editor like nano or vim.
  3. Add the following code to the CMakeLists.txt file to define the project name and specify the minimum required version of CMake:
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cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.10)
project(MyProject)


  1. Specify any additional settings or options for your project, such as the C++ version to use, compiler flags, or build type. For example, to specify the C++ version and set the build type to Release, you can add the following lines to the CMakeLists.txt file:
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set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 11)
set(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE Release)


  1. Define the source files for your project using the add_executable or add_library commands. For example, to create an executable named myapp from the source files main.cpp and helper.cpp, you can add the following line to the CMakeLists.txt file:
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add_executable(myapp main.cpp helper.cpp)


  1. Run the following commands in your project directory to generate the build configuration files:
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mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..


  1. Once the build configuration files have been generated, you can build the project using the following command:
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cmake --build .


This will compile and build your project according to the settings specified in the CMakeLists.txt file. You can also customize the build process further by adding additional configuration options or settings to the CMakeLists.txt file.


How to specify preprocessor definitions in CMake for building a single executable binary?

To specify preprocessor definitions in CMake for building a single executable binary, you can use the add_definitions command. Here is an example of how to define a preprocessor definition in CMake:

  1. Open your CMakeLists.txt file and locate the target executable you want to define preprocessor definitions for. For example, let's say you have a target called my_app.
  2. Use the add_definitions command to define the preprocessor definitions for the target executable. You can either define them globally for the entire project or specifically for the target executable. In this example, we will define them for the target executable my_app.
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add_executable(my_app main.cpp)

target_compile_definitions(my_app PRIVATE DEBUG=1)


In this example, we are defining the preprocessor definition DEBUG with a value of 1 for the target executable my_app. You can define multiple preprocessor definitions by separating them with spaces.

  1. Save the CMakeLists.txt file and re-run CMake to generate the build files with the specified preprocessor definitions for the target executable.


Now, when you build the target executable my_app, the preprocessor definitions will be included in the build process.

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