The purpose for this template is to make it easier and faster to get a c++ project up and running while also allowing for further expansion.
The template consists of a static library project called cpp-project, i.e. cpp-project isn't supposed to be run by it self but is supposed to be included in another project (By default the only one is tests). So instead of changing cpp-project to a ConsoleApp or similar, I would recommend setting up a sandbox project that uses cpp-project as a library. A sandbox project would be setup similarly to tests (See Creating a Sandbox Application).
The intended use is to change this name to your actual project name. To change the name properly you need to change the name of the cpp-project folders, and also change all instances of that name in all premake5.lua files. If you want more information about what settings in the premake5.lua files do, I would redirect you to their pretty awesome wiki.
Cpp-project is setup so all of your header files are in the include directory while the implementation files are in src (notice only .cpp files and .h files are included in the src and include directories respectively by default).
The tests project is a ConsoleApp project. By default it includes the GoogleTest framework and the idea is to use this project to test the functions of cpp-project. As it is setup now, you won't see an entry point. That is because GoogleTest includes it's own implementation. However, if you decide you need, or want, your own entry point, you will need to exclude gtest_main.cc from the includes files in test/vendor/premake5.lua (similar to how gtest-all.cc is excluded).
By default all .cpp files in the src directory will be included when compiling.
It uses premake5 as a build system, which allows for development and building on multiple platforms without hassle (For more information visit premake5's wiki).
Never change anything inside Makefiles, Solution files, and similar. Only change options in the premake5.lua files, otherwise the changed options won't change when rebuilding the projects.
The build files for all projects will be located in the top-level bin and bin-int directories. bin-int stores all intermediate files necessary for building. The folder structure is as follows <Configuration>-<System>-<Architecture> where configuration is Release or Debug; System is windows, linux or macos; and architecture is x86_64 (since right now only compiling for 64 bit is added, might change in the future).
Generate the Make files by running ./GenerateProject.sh in the root directory. Then to build the project run make (defaults to Debug). If you want to build for a specific configuration run make config=<Configuration> (for example make config=Release). See Build files for location of built files.
Generate Visual Studio Solutions by running GenerateProject.bat <action> where <action> is defined here; if no action is specified, then action will be set to vs2019. Build like any other Visual Studio Project. See Build files for location of built files.
Follow the instructions in cpp-project to change the name to your project. Then add your .h files in the include directory and your .cpp files in the src directory. Then write tests for the code you added (See tests for more information).
If you want to add another library or replace GoogleTest for another Unit Testing Framework:
- Add it as a submodule by running
git submodule add <repository> <path>where path is a vendor folder, for exampletests/vedororvendor. - If the project already uses
premake5as a build system then include the project the same wayGoogleTestandcpp-projectis included intests. - Otherwise you have to write your own
premake5.luafile for that library (like I did forGoogleTest). Basically copy paste theGoogleTestpremake5.luafile and change after liking.