VSC-CMake-CXX-Project-Template

A Template of Cross-Platform CMake-C++ Project for Visual Studio Code with Github Actions CI/CD.

• 1. Environment Setup
  • 1.1. Linux with GCC and Clang
  • 1.2. Windows with MSVC
  • 1.3. Windows with MinGW
• 2. How to Use this Template
  • 2.1. Create Your Own Repository
  • 2.2 Generate a Project
  • 2.3. Build a Executable or Library
  • 2.4. Reset Project
• 5. Remove Template

1. Environment Setup

1.1. Linux with GCC and Clang

Install the following softwares:

export LLVM_VERSION=20

apt-get install -y \
    git apt-utils lsb-release software-properties-common gnupg  \
    ninja-build pkg-config build-essential gdb curl wget
  
cd /usr/local && git clone https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg.git && \ 
cd vcpkg && ./bootstrap-vcpkg.sh  && \
wget -O /tmp/kitware-archive.sh \
    https://apt.kitware.com/kitware-archive.sh && \
bash /tmp/kitware-archive.sh && \
apt-get update && apt-get install -y cmake && \
wget -O /tmp/llvm.sh https://apt.llvm.org/llvm.sh && \
chmod +x /tmp/llvm.sh && /tmp/llvm.sh ${LLVM_VERSION} && \
apt-get install -y libomp-${LLVM_VERSION}-dev  

# Add VCPKG_ROOT to environment variables
echo "export VCPKG_ROOT=/usr/local/vcpkg" >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

1.2. Windows with MSVC

If you are using Windows, first install Visual Studio IN DEFAULT INSTALLATION PATH, and then choose the Desktop development with C++ workload.

vcpkg, CMake and Ninja will be installed automatically by Visual Studio Installer.

1.3. Windows with MinGW

You can skip the Visual Studio installation but install MinGW with scoop directly:

# Allow script execution
Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser

# Install scoop
Invoke-RestMethod -Uri https://get.scoop.sh | Invoke-Expression

# Install softwares
scoop install cmake ninja git mingw vcpkg

2. How to Use this Template

2.1. Create Your Own Repository

1. Click Use this template -> Create a new repository on the top right corner of this page.
2. Clone your repository to your local machine.

2.2 Generate a Project

Parameters:

• <project-name>: Name of your project. Can be any valid identifier.
• <project-type>: Type of the project you want to use. Can be:
  • 0: cxx_exe, a simple C++ executable project.
  • 1: cxx_lib, a C++ lib & test project.
  • 2: cuda_exe, a CUDA executable project.
  • 3: cuda_lib, a CUDA lib & test project.

python ./.templates/gen_project.py -n <project-name> -t <project-type>

2.3. Build a Executable or Library

After generation, build the project by:

bash ./scripts/build.sh

Or if you are using windows and want to use MSVC deliberately, run the following command in Powershell or CMD:

.\scripts\msvc-bash.bat .\scripts\build.sh

Use -h or --help flag to see all available options.

2.4. Reset Project

If you chose a wrong template, don't be worry. Reset the project by:

python ./.templates/gen_project.py --reset

Or directly switch to a new template:

python ./.templates/gen_project.py -n <project-name> -t <project-type>

5. Remove Template

After generating your project, you can remove the ".template" directory by deleting it directly, or use the following command:

python ./.templates/gen_project.py --remove-templates