[CMake] cmake support Eclipse

[Brandon Van Every]

On 7/30/07, Andy Dingfelder <DingfelderA at sirtrack.com> wrote:
> > What's a non-trivial Java app that's using a CMake build?  Dart2
> server perhaps?
>
> I don't know any java apps that are built using cmake if thats what you
> mean.

Looks like Dart2 is an Ant project.  VTK has a Java wrapper but it
doesn't use PROJECT(myproj Java) to do any of the wrapping.  I do see
one Java test in the CMake source tree that uses PROJECT(blah Java).
It makes a Hello World with essentially one command, ADD_LIBRARY(hello
A.java HelloWorld.java).  I don't know beans about Java; is everything
in Java a library?  I guess you don't have binary executables, so no
ADD_EXECUTABLE, but it seems funny to call "hello" a library.

> Building java apps it typically done using Maven or Ant, and I see no
> need to re-invent the wheel and use cmake to do that.

I do.  If you want Eclipse developer mindshare, then ultimately you
want CMake to work as a Java build tool as well.  You may not need any
of that at first, but you aren't going to get a snowball of support
unless CMake is handling basic Java builds.  That's the strategic
risk.  Strategically, if Ant figures out how to do C/C++, and CMake
doesn't figure out how to do Java, then CMake will lose in the Eclipse
world.

> All cmake needs to do to meet my needs is build C++ code, which it does
> very well from what I have seen.

You may want to look beyond your immediate needs though.  You started
this thread with thoughts of what's profitable to strategically invest
in.  I certainly wouldn't begrudge you knocking out *any* form of
CMake Eclipse plugin.  This is open source, so whatever turns you on.
But some approaches are more likely to get accepted by large numbers
of people than others.  Bootstrapping CMake is more cool than using
Ant to take care of what CMake is supposed to take care of.  Coolness
inspires.

> >CMake only has to be elegant enough to address the needs of a CDT
> >implementor.  Which might be substantial, actually, I don't know.
> >Eclipse is a big project.
>
> I do not see what the size of eclipse has to do with how cmake would
> work.

I do not know what Java trickery one needs to do to build an Eclipse
plugin.  I hope it is easy and aesthetically satisfying when done with
CMake.


Cheers,
Brandon Van Every