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Cpp build type

  • Debug : active debugging, easiest to inspect
  • RelWithDebInfo : realistic performance + debug symbols
  • Release : final optimized build
  • MinSizeRel: build optimized binaries prioritizing smaller executable/library size.
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 # Debug
  cmake -S . -B build/debug -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug
  cmake --build build/debug

  # Release
  cmake -S . -B build/release -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
  cmake --build build/release

CMakePresets.json

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{
  "version": 6,
  "configurePresets": [
    {
      "name": "base",
      "hidden": true,
      "generator": "Ninja"
    },
    {
      "name": "debug",
      "inherits": "base",
      "binaryDir": "${sourceDir}/build/debug",
      "cacheVariables": {
        "CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE": "Debug"
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "relwithdebinfo",
      "inherits": "base",
      "binaryDir": "${sourceDir}/build/relwithdebinfo",
      "cacheVariables": {
        "CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE": "RelWithDebInfo"
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "release",
      "inherits": "base",
      "binaryDir": "${sourceDir}/build/release",
      "cacheVariables": {
        "CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE": "Release"
      }
    }
  ]
}

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{
  "version": 6,
  "configurePresets": [
    {
      "name": "base",
      "hidden": true,
      "generator": "Ninja"
    },
    {
      "name": "debug",
      "inherits": "base",
      "binaryDir": "${sourceDir}/build/debug",
      "cacheVariables": {
        "CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE": "Debug"
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "relwithdebinfo",
      "inherits": "base",
      "binaryDir": "${sourceDir}/build/relwithdebinfo",
      "cacheVariables": {
        "CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE": "RelWithDebInfo"
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "release",
      "inherits": "base",
      "binaryDir": "${sourceDir}/build/release",
      "cacheVariables": {
        "CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE": "Release"
      }
    }
  ]
}

```bash
# debug
cmake --preset debug
cmake --build build/debug

# release
cmake --preset release
cmake --build build/release~

Tips

if condition

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  target_compile_options(my_app PRIVATE
      $<$<CONFIG:Debug>:-Wall -Wextra>
  )
  • target_compile_options(my_app ...) adds compiler options to the my_app target.
  • PRIVATE means the options affect only my_app; they are not inherited by targets that link to it.
  • $<...> is a CMake generator expression, evaluated when CMake generates the build files.
  • $ evaluates to 1 for Debug and 0 otherwise.
  • \(<\):-Wall -Wextra> supplies -Wall -Wextra only when the condition is true.