2.2. Native build tool¶

As already mentioned CMake is not designed to do the build itself - it generates files which can be used by a real native build tool, hence you need to choose such a tool(s) and install it if needed. Option -G <generator-name> can be used to specify what type of generator will be used. If no such option present CMake will use default generator (e.g. Unix Makefiles on *nix platforms).

The list of available generators depends on the host OS (e.g. Visual Studio family generators are not available on Linux). You can get this list by running cmake --help:

> cmake --help
...
Generators

The following generators are available on this platform:
  Unix Makefiles              = Generates standard UNIX makefiles.
  Ninja                       = Generates build.ninja files (experimental).
  Watcom WMake                = Generates Watcom WMake makefiles.
  CodeBlocks - Ninja          = Generates CodeBlocks project files.
  ...

CMake documentation

CMake Generators