What is a Toolchain, & How Does CMake Fit Into It?

[@bholasaxena8741]

This is what I wanted. Short complete and to the point.

[@KeaSigmaDelta]

Thanks. Great to hear that it's what you wanted.

[@adityavardhanjain]

What a cool explanation! I'm binge watching all these video this evening. Wonderful.

[@motionsmoments6254]

thanks for the explanation

[@KeaSigmaDelta]

Glad it was helpful.

[@user-tc2ky6fg2o]

I just checked your website and saw that the book is not finished yet. Maybe it would be useful to mention other build configurations as well, which are platform-specific, vendor-specific, and the qmake to get a wider and more complete view for the readers of the topic. A short hello-world example of each one could be a nice bonus.

[@KeaSigmaDelta]

Thanks for the suggestion. The CMake Tutorial is about CMake, so I don't think it should cover alternative build systems beyond mentioning their existence. I could compare build systems elsewhere, though.

[@user-tc2ky6fg2o]

I wish someone explained so clearly this years ago. Thank you very much! Am I correct if I assume that the configure/automake stuff is for the same purpose as CMake (but older and probably less advanced and non-multiplatform, etc?)

[@KeaSigmaDelta]

Yes, configure/automake is for the same purpose, but they're older and very unix/posix centric. I haven't heard of anyone using automake with Visual Studio as the compiler.

[@thepopeofhell3148]

Is Cmake thus a toolchain?

[@KeaSigmaDelta]

No. It's a front-end to the toolchain(s). CMake is effectively the first tool in the chain to go from source-code to working program.

[@UsatiyNyan]

CMake (a tool) is interchangeable, whilst toolchains may be substituted depending on the platform and your needs.

[@KeaSigmaDelta]

@@UsatiyNyan Exactly.

[@toby9999]

Fortunately, I'm able to avoid this approach by using MS Visual Studio on Windows. It takes care of everything. It is the build chain. Those few times I've needed CMake.... painful!

[@KeaSigmaDelta]

Yeah, Visual Studio does make getting started easy. That does limit you to Windows and Visual Studio, though.