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What's the difference between include_directories and target_include_directories?
I have seen others allude to include_directories as disfavored: Having trouble adding include directories
Summaries from CMake's documentation:
target_include_directories |
include_directories |
|---|---|
"Specifies include directories to use when compiling a given target. The named <target> must have been created by a command such as add_executable() or add_library() and must not be an ALIAS target." |
"Add the given directories to those the compiler uses to search for include files. Relative paths are interpreted as relative to the current source directory." |
"Note: Prefer the target_include_directories() command to add include directories to individual targets and optionally propagate/export them to dependents." |
Should one be preferred over the other? If so, why?
1 answer
include_directories works on all targets in the current CMakeLists.txt file, whereas target_include_directories only adds them for the specified target.
include_directories is fine to use for simple projects, but target_include_directories is better for more complex ones because it is more explicit, so you don't accidentally add include directories to targets that you didn't intend to, and it makes it easier to refactor build files, since it is clear which commands you need to modify based on their targets.
target_include_directories also supports INTERFACE, PUBLIC and PRIVATE keywords, which control how the include directories are propagated to children that depend on the target. For example, if you have a target which needs additional headers to build against, you can use PUBLIC for those directories so that anything linking against the target also includes those directories. Otherwise, you can use PRIVATE so those directories aren't propagated to children.
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