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Building the C++ Course Examples

This project uses CMake with vcpkg as the package manager. The build system is designed to automatically detect vcpkg and work with standard CMake commands.

Prerequisites

  1. CMake (version 3.20 or higher)
  2. vcpkg package manager
  3. C++ compiler (MSVC, GCC, or Clang)
  4. Ninja build system (optional but recommended)

Setting up vcpkg

The CMake configuration will automatically detect vcpkg if:

  • The VCPKG_ROOT environment variable is set, or
  • vcpkg is installed in one of these locations:
    • ${PROJECT_DIR}/vcpkg/
    • C:/vcpkg/ or E:/vcpkg/ (Windows)
    • $HOME/vcpkg/ or /opt/vcpkg/ (Linux/macOS)

Setting VCPKG_ROOT (Recommended)

Windows (Command Prompt):

set VCPKG_ROOT=E:\vcpkg

Windows (PowerShell):

$env:VCPKG_ROOT = "E:\vcpkg"

Linux/macOS:

export VCPKG_ROOT=/path/to/vcpkg

To make it permanent, add the above line to your .bashrc or .zshrc.

Building with CMake

Option 1: Using CMake Presets (Recommended)

List available presets:

cmake --list-presets

Configure with a preset:

cmake --preset debug
# or
cmake --preset release
# or
cmake --preset vs2022

Build:

cmake --build --preset debug
# or
cmake --build --preset release

Option 2: Standard CMake Commands

Configure:

# Debug build
cmake -B build-debug -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug

# Release build
cmake -B build-release -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release

Build:

cmake --build build-debug
# or
cmake --build build-release

Option 3: Manual vcpkg Toolchain

If vcpkg is not autodetected, you can specify the toolchain file manually:

cmake -B build-debug -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=/path/to/vcpkg/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake

Build Options

The following CMake options control which examples are built:

  • BUILD_QT_EXAMPLES (default: ON) - Build Qt-based examples
  • BUILD_VTK_EXAMPLES (default: OFF) - Build VTK visualization examples
  • BUILD_EIGEN_EXAMPLES (default: ON) - Build Eigen linear algebra examples
  • BUILD_MIXED_LANG_EXAMPLES (default: OFF) - Build mixed-language examples

Example:

cmake -B build-debug -DBUILD_VTK_EXAMPLES=ON -DBUILD_QT_EXAMPLES=OFF

Output

All executables are built to the bin/ directory in the project root.

Troubleshooting

vcpkg not found:

  • Set the VCPKG_ROOT environment variable
  • Or use -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=/path/to/vcpkg/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake

Missing dependencies:

cd /path/to/vcpkg
./vcpkg install

This will install all dependencies listed in vcpkg.json.

Legacy Build Scripts

The old build scripts (cpp-build.cmd, config_debug_build.cmd, etc.) are kept for backward compatibility but are no longer needed with the modernized build system.