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I have seen others allude to include_directories as disfavored: Having trouble adding include directories Summaries from CMake's documentation: target_include_directories include_directori...
Question
cmake
#1: Initial revision
by
nogjam
·
2024-06-10T20:40:58Z (5 months ago)
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](https://software.codidact.com/comments/thread/2580#comment-8599) Summaries from CMake's documentation: | [**`target_include_directories`**](https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/command/target_include_directories.html) | [**`include_directories`**](https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/command/include_directories.html) | | --- | --- | | "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?