What it is
CMake describes how to build a C or C++ project in a CMakeLists.txt file, then generates the build files for whatever tool does the compiling, such as make or Ninja. The same project builds on Linux, macOS and Windows.
Why it’s here
- The common standard. Most open-source C and C++ projects build with it.
- Needed for installs. Some Python and Rust packages run CMake to compile their native parts.
On CoreDesktop
CMake is installed from pacman. CoreDesktop includes it, with Clang, because Hermes Agent’s Matrix support builds python-olm, which needs it; when update updates Hermes, it tells CMake how to build python-olm’s older build files. update keeps CMake current with the rest of the pacman packages.
cmake -B build && cmake --build build