# Why should I use CMake? **URL:** \ **Category:** Help\ **Created:** [April 5, 2021, 9:40am UTC](https://fortran-lang.discourse.group/t/why-should-i-use-cmake/953 "2021-04-05T09:40:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 2
**Author:** ![vmagnin](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/fortran-lang.discourse.group/vmagnin/32/28_2.png) [@vmagnin](https://fortran-lang.discourse.group/u/vmagnin)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2021, 10:13am UTC](https://fortran-lang.discourse.group/t/why-should-i-use-cmake/953/2 "2021-04-05T10:13:25Z")
CMake is interesting if you want to distribute your projects on various systems. It will for example detect if there is a Fortran compiler installed. It’s a very powerful tool. If you don’t want to use the default compiler (f95 link on a Linux system), you can easily tell CMake which compiler you want, for example: ```bash $ cmake -D CMAKE_Fortran_COMPILER:FILEPATH="/opt/intel/bin/ifort" .. $ cmake -D CMAKE_Fortran_COMPILER:FILEPATH=$(which gfortran-9) .. ``` As you can see, a default of CMake, in my opinion, is that it is quite verbose… Default build type is release, but you can override it: ```bash $ cmake -D CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=debug .. ``` In that file, you will find how to use some other variables, like `CMAKE_Fortran_FLAGS_DEBUG`: [https://github.com/vmagnin/gtk-fortran/blob/gtk4/CMakeLists.txt](https://github.com/vmagnin/gtk-fortran/blob/gtk4/CMakeLists.txt) Meson is easier to use, but does not yet manage correctly the installation of Fortran mod files: > > > I can't seem to figure out how to install the Fortran module files that are generated during the build. > Not sure if... And of course, there is now fpm… --- _[View the full topic](https://fortran-lang.discourse.group/t/why-should-i-use-cmake/953)._