Modern C++ Project Template

⚡A clean starter for modern C++20 projects with CMake Presets, testing, benchmarking, sanitizers, coverage, and developer tooling.

Table of Contents

• Features
• Project Structure
• Prerequisites
• Build Presets
• Workflow Presets
• Building and Testing
• Sanitizers
• Benchmarking
• Coverage
• Developer Tooling
• Installation
• Package
• Contributing
• License

Features

• Modern C++20+: fully enabled C++20 with support for upgrading to C++23
• CMake Presets: reproducible, platform‑agnostic builds via CMakePresets.json
• Testing: integrated with GoogleTest using gtest_discover_tests()
• Benchmarking: optional benchmarks with Google Benchmark
• Sanitizers: ASan and UBSan runtime checks
• Coverage: gcovr-powered HTML reports
• Developer Tooling: clang-format, clang-tidy, cppcheck custom targets
• Installation: provides find_package(...) integration with proper exports
• CI-Ready: GitHub Actions for builds, linting, testing, and formatting

Project Structure

modern-cpp-project-template/
├── .github/workflows/   # CI pipelines for GitHub Actions
├── .vscode/             # VS Code workspace settings
├── app/                 # Optional demo application
├── benchmarks/          # Google Benchmark performance tests
├── cmake/               # Custom CMake modules (Options, Flags, Helpers, etc.)
├── include/             # Public library headers
├── src/                 # Library source files
├── tests/               # Unit tests (GoogleTest)
├── .clang-format        # Formatting rules
├── .clang-tidy          # Static analysis configuration
├── .clangd              # Clangd language server settings
├── .editorconfig        # Editor consistency rules
├── .gitignore           # Git ignore patterns
├── CMakeLists.txt       # Top-level build configuration
├── CMakePresets.json    # Build, test, and workflow presets
├── LICENSE              # Apache 2.0 license
└── README.md            # Project documentation

Prerequisites

Before building the project, make sure the following tools are installed on your system:

• CMake ≥ 3.23 (tested with 3.28+)
• C++ Compiler: GCC ≥ 10 or Clang ≥ 12
• Ninja (optional; recommended), or your generator of choice
• gcovr (for code coverage reports)
• clang-format, clang-tidy, cppcheck (optional diagnostics)

Tools not found are skipped with a warning; features gated by CMake option.

Build Presets

This project uses CMake Presets to simplify configuration.

Preset	Notes
Debug	Debugging with no optimizations
Release	Optimized builds without debug symbols
RelWithDebInfo	Optimized build with debug symbols (recommended)
Sanitize	Builds with runtime checks enabled (ASan/UBSan)
Coverage	Builds instrumented for coverage reporting
Release-Bench	Builds Release + benchmarks

List available presets:

cmake --list-presets

Workflow Presets

Preset	Notes
check-sanitize	Sanitize → build → run tests
coverage-report	Coverage → build → run tests → *(generate report)
dist	RelWithDebInfo → build → package via CPack

List available workflow presets:

cmake --workflow --list-presets

Run workflows with:

cmake --workflow --preset check-sanitize

Building and Testing

Configure and build:

cmake --preset gcc-RelWithDebInfo
cmake --build --preset gcc-RelWithDebInfo

Run unit tests:

ctest --preset gcc-RelWithDebInfo

Sanitizers

cmake --preset gcc-Sanitize
cmake --build --preset gcc-Sanitize
ctest --preset gcc-Sanitize

or run the workflow:

cmake --workflow --preset check-sanitize

Benchmarking

cmake --preset gcc-Release-Bench
cmake --build --preset gcc-Release-Bench --target benchmarks
./build/gcc-Release-Bench/benchmarks/benchmarks

Coverage

cmake --preset gcc-Coverage
cmake --build --preset gcc-Coverage
ctest --preset gcc-Coverage
cmake --build --preset gcc-Coverage --target coverage

or run the workflow:

cmake --workflow --preset coverage-report
cmake --build --preset gcc-Coverage --target coverage

Find the report in build/gcc-Coverage/coverage.xml

Developer Tooling

Code Formatting

Format all C++ files using .clang-format.

Check formatting:

cmake --preset gcc-RelWithDebInfo
cmake --build --preset gcc-RelWithDebInfo --target format-check

Reformat everything:

cmake --build --preset gcc-RelWithDebInfo --target format

Use a pre-commit hook to automatically check formatting before each commit.

Static Analysis

Run clang-tidy analysis:

cmake --preset gcc-RelWithDebInfo
cmake --build --preset gcc-RelWithDebInfo --target clang-tidy

Configurable via .clang-tidy, with selective checks enabled.

Run cppcheck analysis:

cmake --preset gcc-RelWithDebInfo
cmake --build --preset gcc-RelWithDebInfo --target cppcheck

Installation

cmake --preset gcc-RelWithDebInfo
cmake --build --preset gcc-RelWithDebInfo
cmake --install build/gcc-RelWithDebInfo --prefix install  # or /usr/local

• This installs the library to the install/ directory.
• You can also install system-wide with --prefix /usr/local (requires sudo).

After installation, consume the library like this in another CMake project:

find_package(modern_cpp REQUIRED)
add_executable(my_app ...)
target_link_libraries(my_app PRIVATE modern_cpp::library)

Make sure CMake knows where to find the installed package:

cmake -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=/path/to/install ..

Packaging

Once you’ve built your release­‐type binaries (e.g. RelWithDebInfo), you can produce .tar.gz and .zip archives via CPack:

Use package presets:

cmake --preset gcc-Release
cmake --build --preset gcc-Release
cpack --preset package-gcc-Release

or workflow preset:

cmake --workflow --preset gcc-Release-dist

This generates .tar.gz and .zip archives in build/gcc-Release.

Contributing

Pull requests are welcome. Please ensure:

• Code passes all tests
• Code is formatted and clang-tidy clean
• Commits follow clear, atomic changes

License

This project is licensed under the Apache License 2.0.

You are free to use, modify, distribute, and include this code in commercial or open-source projects.