C++ Project Template

Modern C++20 project template with CMake, Google Test, and Ninja.

Requirements

Required:

• CMake 3.25+ (brew install cmake)
• C++20 compiler (GCC 10+, Clang 10+, MSVC 2019+)
• Ninja (brew install ninja)

Optional (targets degrade gracefully if missing):

• clang-format -- for make format / make format-check (included with Xcode)
• clang-tidy -- for make tidy / make tidy-fix (brew install llvm on macOS)
• lcov + genhtml -- for make coverage
• pre-commit -- for git hooks (pip install pre-commit)

Google Test is fetched automatically by CMake (no install needed).

Quick Start

make build    # generate + build
make test     # run all tests
make run      # run the application

Project Structure

CMakeLists.txt              # main cmake config
Makefile                    # convenience wrapper
cmake/                      # cmake modules (ClangTools, CodeCoverage)
src/
  common/include/           # shared headers
  foo/                      # library module
    include/ src/ tests/
  app/                      # application
    src/

Make Targets

Target	Description	Requires
make build	Generate + build	cmake, ninja
make rebuild	Clean + build	cmake, ninja
make test	Build + run tests via ctest	ctest
make run	Build + run application
make clean	Remove build directory
make format	Format code with clang-format	clang-format
make format-check	Check formatting without modifying	clang-format
make tidy	Run clang-tidy static analysis	clang-tidy
make tidy-fix	Run clang-tidy with auto-fix	clang-tidy
make coverage	Generate code coverage report	lcov, genhtml
make xcode	Generate + open Xcode project	macOS

Sanitizers

Off by default. Enable via CMake options:

cmake -B .build -DENABLE_ASAN=ON     # AddressSanitizer (memory errors)
cmake -B .build -DENABLE_TSAN=ON     # ThreadSanitizer (data races)
cmake -B .build -DENABLE_UBSAN=ON    # UndefinedBehaviorSanitizer

Adding a New Module

1. Create the directory structure:

src/mymodule/
  CMakeLists.txt
  include/mymodule.h
  src/mymodule.cpp
  tests/
    CMakeLists.txt
    tests.cpp

2. Add add_subdirectory(mymodule) to src/CMakeLists.txt.

3. Update app_binaries in the Makefile if the module produces an executable.

Customizing for a New Project

Update the clearly marked PROJECT SETTINGS sections:

• CMakeLists.txt -- project() name and version
• Makefile -- app_binaries paths

Everything else (build targets, cmake modules, test infrastructure) is generic boilerplate.

License

MIT