[CMake] improve the CMake language?

[david.karr at l-3com.com]

> From: "Eric Noulard" <eric.noulard at gmail.com>:
> 
> I used Java for 4+ years (all thoses years are overlapping :=)
> it was really pleased using it for cross platform GUI.
> And I was really disappointed because the java I  used
> was lacking generics such that I need to cast here and there when
> using container.

This may be a little off-topic, but generic types were added to Java at
least two years ago.  So, for example, you now can declare an object of
type Vector<String>.  Generic types are also useful for a lot more than
just avoiding casts when getting objects from containers.

> I hope I've already put you on the road of
> "there is no FAR better language than other".

This is an excellent point.  Unlike any specific language feature, this
statement is not likely to be falsified by the language designers at any
time in the near future.

Personally, I find the macros of CMAKE a little awkward at times, but
when I want to do anything more sophisticated, I am very happy to write
a little helper script or program for CMAKE to invoke.  I converted the
build of one of my group's software projects to CMAKE a few years ago
and it's served us very well ever since, though we now have more than
1800 source code files distributed among nearly 50 libraries and
executables.

David Karr