The C++ Standard Committee and the CMake build system community are two prominent entities in the world of C++ development. While they have distinct roles and responsibilities, their collaboration plays a crucial role in the evolution and adoption of the C++ programming language.

The C++ Standard Committee

The C++ Standard Committee, officially known as the ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG21, is a group of experts and enthusiasts responsible for maintaining and evolving the C++ standard. The committee is composed of representatives from various organizations, including compiler vendors, library authors, and language experts.

Their main task is to propose and review changes and additions to the C++ language. This involves discussing, designing, and implementing new features, as well as maintaining the existing ones. The committee uses a collaborative approach in which members submit proposals, engage in discussions, and ultimately vote on whether a proposal should be accepted into the standard or not.

The CMake build system community

CMake is a popular cross-platform build system used in C++ projects. It provides a simple and efficient way to manage the build process, handling tasks like dependency management, compilation, and linking. CMake generates platform-specific build files (e.g., Makefiles or Visual Studio project files) based on a high-level, platform-agnostic configuration script.

The CMake build system community consists of developers, contributors, and users of CMake. They actively participate in improving CMake’s features, fixing issues, and proposing enhancements. The community benefits from diverse experiences and needs from different industries and development environments.

Collaboration between the C++ Standard Committee and the CMake build system community

The collaboration between the C++ Standard Committee and the CMake build system community is crucial to ensure smooth integration and adoption of new language features.

1. Proposals and feedback: CMake community members actively participate in the C++ Standard Committee meetings and discussions. They identify pain points in the build process related to new language features and provide valuable feedback. This helps the committee to understand the challenges faced by developers when integrating new features into their projects and make necessary adjustments.

2. Build system support: The C++ Standard Committee relies on the CMake build system to test and validate new language features across multiple platforms. CMake’s cross-platform capabilities make it easier to ensure consistent behavior and compatibility across different operating systems and compilers. The feedback received from the community helps the committee address any platform-specific issues and improve the overall standardization process.

3. Integration and adoption: As new C++ language features are standardized, the CMake community actively works on integrating them into the build system. This includes updating CMake scripts and generator expressions to take advantage of the new capabilities. By collaborating closely, the C++ Standard Committee and the CMake community ensure that the process of adopting and using new language features is seamless and well-supported.

In conclusion, the collaboration between the C++ Standard Committee and the CMake build system community is vital for the evolution and adoption of the C++ programming language. Their joint efforts ensure that new language features are well-integrated, tested, and accessible to developers using the CMake build system. By working together, they contribute to the overall growth and success of the C++ community.

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