Can you explain what CMake is and how it is used to automate project builds?

CMake is a cross-platform build automation system that generates build files (Makefile, IDE projects, etc.) from a project description in a CMakeLists.txt file.

It is used to simplify and standardize the build process, especially in large projects with many dependencies. In CMake, sources, libraries, dependencies, and compilation parameters are described, and then CMake generates specific instructions for the chosen platform and build tool.

Example of a simple CMakeLists.txt:

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.10)
project(MyApp)
add_executable(myapp main.cpp utils.cpp)

This will create an executable file myapp from the specified sources.