C++ Cookbook

Use mise to install build tools and define the configure/build cycle. A C or C++ compiler must already be available, for example through your operating system's development tools. Installing CMake does not install a compiler.

A C++ Project with CMake

This recipe expects a CMakeLists.txt at the project root. It uses CMake's build interface so the task does not depend on a specific Make or Ninja generator:

[tools]
cmake = "latest"

[tasks.configure]
description = "Configure the CMake build"
run = 'cmake -S . -B build'

[tasks.build]
description = "Build the project"
alias = "b"
depends = ["configure"]
run = 'cmake --build build'

[tasks.clean]
description = "Clean compiled targets while keeping CMake configuration"
alias = "c"
run = 'cmake --build build --target clean'

Run mise run build from the project. It configures the build directory before compiling. After the first build, mise run clean removes compiled targets using the selected generator's clean target; it keeps the build configuration.

For a runnable example, create these two files:

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.20)
project(hello LANGUAGES CXX)
add_executable(hello main.cpp)

#include <iostream>

int main() {
    std::cout << "Hello from CMake\n";
}

With a single-configuration generator such as Unix Makefiles, the resulting program is build/hello on Unix. Multi-configuration generators can put it in a configuration subdirectory; build a specific configuration with mise run build -- --config Debug and use that generator's output path.

Add build/ to .gitignore. See CMake's command-line reference for generator selection and build options.