Disabling in-source builds

Let's learn about disabling in-source builds in CMake.

We'll cover the following

Support for disabling in-source build
Try it yourself

It is always recommended to specify the build path as out-of-source. This not only allows for a cleaner build tree and a simpler .gitignore file, but it also decreases the chances we'll accidentally overwrite or delete any source files. Disabling the in-source build can also be a good solution; however, there is little documented information available on that.

Support for disabling in-source build

Searching for the solution online, you may stumble on a StackOverflow thread that asks the same question. Here, the author notices that no matter what we do, it seems like CMake will still create a CMakeFiles/ directory and a CMakesCache.txt file. Some answers suggest using undocumented variables to make sure that the user can't write in the source directory under any circumstances:

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Introduction to the Course

First Steps with CMake

The CMake Language

Setting Up Our First CMake Project

Working with Targets

Compiling C++ Sources with CMake

Linking with CMake

Modern CMake for C++ Exam 1

Managing Dependencies with CMake

Testing Frameworks

Program Analysis Tools

Generating Documentation

Installing and Packaging

Creating Our Professional Project

Conclusion

Appendix

Disabling in-source builds

Support for disabling in-source build