Ninja

Generates a build.ninja file into the build tree.

Builtin Targets ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

all

Depends on all targets required by the project, except those with :prop_tgt:EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL set to true.

install

Runs the install step.

install/strip

.. versionadded:: 3.7

Runs the install followed by a ``CMAKE_STRIP`` command, if any.

The ``CMAKE_STRIP`` variable will contain the platform's ``strip`` utility, which
removes symbols information from generated binaries.

install/parallel

.. versionadded:: 3.30

Created only if the :prop_gbl:`INSTALL_PARALLEL` global property is ``ON``.
Runs the install step for each subdirectory independently and in parallel.

test_prep/<test-name>

.. versionadded:: 4.4

Created only if the :variable:`CMAKE_TEST_BUILD_DEPENDS` variable is
enabled. Builds all known build dependencies for the named test, including
the executable target invoked by the test, targets referenced by generator
expressions in the test command, and explicit ``BUILD_DEPENDS`` entries.

Tests with names that are not valid target names are excluded. If multiple
tests in different directories share the same name, their dependencies are
merged into one ``test_prep/<test-name>`` target.

test_prep/all

.. versionadded:: 4.4

Created only if the :variable:`CMAKE_TEST_BUILD_DEPENDS` variable is
enabled. Depends on every generated ``test_prep/<test-name>`` target.

For each subdirectory sub/dir of the project, additional targets are generated:

sub/dir/all

.. versionadded:: 3.6

Depends on all targets required by the subdirectory.

sub/dir/install

.. versionadded:: 3.7

Runs the install step in the subdirectory, if any.

sub/dir/install/strip

.. versionadded:: 3.7

Runs the install step in the subdirectory followed by a ``CMAKE_STRIP`` command,
if any.

sub/dir/test

.. versionadded:: 3.7

Runs the test step in the subdirectory, if any.

sub/dir/package

.. versionadded:: 3.7

Runs the package step in the subdirectory, if any.

Fortran Support ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

.. versionadded:: 3.7

The Ninja generator conditionally supports Fortran when the ninja tool is at least version 1.10 (which has the required features).

Swift Support ^^^^^^^^^^^^^

.. versionadded:: 3.15

The Swift support is experimental, not considered stable, and may change in future releases of CMake.