cmake-init - The missing CMake project initializer

Opinionated CMake project initializer to generate CMake projects that are FetchContent ready, separate consumer and developer targets, provide install rules with proper relocatable CMake packages and use modern CMake (3.14+)

See the gif in the assets folder for an example of using cmake-init.

Here are some example outputs of the script as of 0.6.1:

• https://github.com/friendlyanon/cmake-init-shared-static
• https://github.com/friendlyanon/cmake-init-executable
• https://github.com/friendlyanon/cmake-init-header-only

Goals

• Be simple to use
  The script allows you to just mash enter to get you a correctly set up project for a library, which can be built as either static or shared. You want a project with an executable? Just choose e when prompted. Header-only library? Just choose h when prompted. Simple and correct!
• Create FetchContent ready projects
  This is important, because in the near feature this might allow CMake to consume other projects in a trivial fashion similar to other languages, e.g. in JavaScript's case (npm).
• Cleanly separate developer and consumer targets
  This ties into the previous point as well, but developers and consumers of a project have different needs, and separating targets achieves that goal. A developer should be able to run tests, add warning flags, run benchmarks, etc., while a consumer, such as a package maintainer, generally only wants to build the library or the executable itself, without having to patch around in the CMake scripts. Show some love to your package maintainers!
• Use modern CMake (3.14+)
  There are too many outdated and plain wrong examples on the internet, it's time to change that.

Non-goals

• Cover every possible project structure
  Doing this is pointless as an init script, because there are far too many ways people have been building software, and if you have special needs, you ought to already know CMake and you can set the project up yourself.
• Generate files and show tips for websites other than GitHub
  While I understand the people who are against GitHub (and by proxy Microsoft), it's by far the most used website of its kind, the files and messages specific to it are small in number, and they are easily adapted for any other service.

Install

Make sure you have these programs installed:

• Python 3.8 or newer
• CMake 3.19 or newer
• git
• clang-tidy (optional, should be available in PATH as clang-tidy)

cmake-init consists of a single file that can be run using Python. Python was chosen for this, because it is cross-platform, convenient for this use-case and you likely already have it installed or the need for it will come up later anyway.

You have to just download the cmake-init.pyz script from the releases, place it somewhere in your PATH and rename it to cmake-init. On Windows, you have to create a cmake-init.bat file to proxy to the script:

@echo off

python %~dp0\cmake-init.pyz %*

clang-tidy

clang-tidy is a static analysis tool that helps you spot logical errors in your code before it is compiled. This script gives you the option to inherit the clang-tidy preset in your dev preset, enabling the CMake integration for this tool.

CI will always run clang-tidy for you, so it is entirely optional to install and use it locally, but it is recommended.

For Windows users, if you wish to use clang-tidy, then you must install Ninja and set the generator field in your dev preset to Ninja. The reason for this is that only Makefiles and Ninja are supported with CMake for use with clang-tidy. For other generators, this feature is a no-op.

Usage

• cmake-init <path>
  This command will create a CMake project at the provided location and according to the answers given to the prompts. You may pass the -s, -e or -h flags after to quickly create a shared library, executable or a header only library respectively.
• cmake-init --help
  Shows the help screen for more flags and switches.

Licensing

cmake-init is Free Software: You can use, study, share and improve it at your will. Specifically you can redistribute and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

Files generated by cmake-init are placed under Public Domain. Everyone is free to use, modify, republish, sell or give away these files without prior consent from anybody. These files are provided on an "as is" basis, without warranty of any kind. Use at your own risk! Under no circumstances shall the author(s) or contributor(s) be liable for damages resulting directly or indirectly from the use or non-use of these files.