Starting with a Really Simple C++ Project¶

1. Create a folder <project> with the name of your project and initialize git

   git init <project>
   

2. Start with .gitignore-whitelisting

   *
   !*.cc
   !*.h
   !CMakeLists.txt
   !README.md
   !.gitignore
   

3. Create a file README.md and write down most important informations about your project.
4. For directly testing the source code create the file doctest_main.cc

   #define DOCTEST_CONFIG_IMPLEMENT_WITH_MAIN
   #include <doctest/doctest.h>
   

5. Create a C++ source file with the name <code>.cc to write the actual code

   #include <doctest/doctest.h>
   
   // STL includes
   #include <iostream>
   
   // custom includes
   
   // namespace directives and declarations
   using namespace std;
   
   // actual code
   
   // test cases to test the actual code
   TEST_CASE(""){
       // your checks and requirements
   }
   

6. Create the file CMakeLists.txt for building the code

   cmake_minimum_required(3.10)
   project(<project> VERSION 0.1.0 LANGUAGES CXX)
   enable_testing()
   
   find_package(doctest REQUIRED)
   
   add_executable(main_test
       doctest_main.cc
       <code>.cc
   )
   
   target_link_libraries(main_test
       PRIVATE
           doctest::doctest
   )
   
   add_test(main_test main_test)
   

7. Create a GitHub repository for your project, make the initial commit and push it to the master branch

   git add .
   git commit -m "Initial commit"
   git remote add origin git@github.com:<user>/<project>.git
   git push origin master
   

8. Initialize the build process

   mkdir build 
   cd build
   cmake ..
   

9. Use test-driven development cycle to write, test and commit new code

   1. Write test
   2. Make sure building or testing fails
   3. Write least simple code for a successful building and testing
   4. Make sure building and testing is successful.
   5. Commit the changes.
   6. Refactor the code for better design.
   7. Make sure building and testing is successful.
   8. Commit the changes.

   Building and Testing:

   cmake --build .
   ctest --verbose