How do I build on Windows with MSVC and CMake?

Building a C++ project on Windows using MSVC (Microsoft Visual C++) and CMake is a straightforward process. CMake is a cross-platform build system generator that helps manage the build process across different environments.

Follow these steps to set up your C++ project using CMake and MSVC:

  1. Install Visual Studio: Make sure you have Visual Studio installed with the C++ development tools.
  2. Install CMake: Download and install CMake from the official CMake website.
  3. Create a CMakeLists.txt file: This file will contain instructions for CMake to build your project. Here’s a simple example:
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.10) project(MyProject) set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 11) add_executable(MyExecutable main.cpp)

In this example, replace main.cpp with the name of your C++ source file.

  1. Configure your project: Open a command prompt, navigate to your project directory, and create a build directory:
mkdir build cd build cmake ..

This command will generate the project files needed for Visual Studio.

  1. Build your project: You can then build your project using:
cmake --build . --config Release

This will create your executable in the build directory under the Release configuration.

With these steps, you can easily build C++ projects on Windows using MSVC and CMake!


C++ Windows MSVC CMake Visual Studio build system programming

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