# Comparing Visual Studio IDE default release build vs CMake default release build
**URL:** https://discourse.cmake.org/t/comparing-visual-studio-ide-default-release-build-vs-cmake-default-release-build/10098
**Category:** Usage
**Tags:** os:windows, comp:msvc, gen:ninja
**Created:** [February 15, 2024, 8:08am UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/comparing-visual-studio-ide-default-release-build-vs-cmake-default-release-build/10098 "2024-02-15T08:08:24Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@One\_Cable5781](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/One_Cable5781)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2024, 8:08am UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/comparing-visual-studio-ide-default-release-build-vs-cmake-default-release-build/10098/1 "2024-02-15T08:08:24Z")
Hello,
I am trying to transition from Visual Studio IDE’s `vcxproj` project files and embrace CMake.
By default, Visual Studio’s release mode comes with the following settings:
```auto
UseDebugLibraries false
WholeProgramOptimization true
LinkIncremental false
GenerateManifest false
ClCompile
IntrinsicFunctions true
FunctionLevelLinking true
Optimization MaxSpeed
SDLCheck false
ConformanceMode true
BufferSecurityCheck false
DebugInformationFormat None
Link
GenerateDebugInformation false
EnableCOMDATFolding true
OptimizeReferences true
```
I do not have anything special in my `CML.txt` expecting that the default release build of CMake should track the default release build of Visual Studio in terms of settings/compiler flags/linker flags. Given this what I believe is a reasonable expectation, I am somewhat taken aback by a comment made to a similar question I posed over at /r/cmake [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/cmake/comments/1aqrguf/native_visual_studio_release_mode_settings_vs/)
> Whole Program Optimization, for instance, is not enabled by CMake release builds by default (check out INTERPROCEDURAL\_OPTIMIZATION in CMake if you want to enable it).
Is there any documentation available on how one can reconcile release build differences between Visual Studio and CMake’s release builds both for usage under MSVC?
At present, my solution to this problem of incompatible flags is to force the following into my `CML.txt` file based on going through Visual Studio IDE’s project settings and noting down the flags and then forcing them into my `CML.txt` [in comments are the setting in Visual Studio IDE to access the relevant properties natively] :
```auto
if(MSVC)
if (CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE STREQUAL "Release")
target_compile_options(CMakeProject PUBLIC "/sdl-")
# C/C++ -> General -> SDL Checks
target_compile_options(CMakeProject PUBLIC "/permissive-")
# C/C++ -> Language -> Conformance Mode -> Yes
target_compile_options(CMakeProject PUBLIC "/GL")
# C/C++ -> Optimization -> Whole program optimization
target_compile_options(CMakeProject PUBLIC "/Oi")
# C/C++ -> Optimization -> Enable Intrinsic Functions
target_compile_options(CMakeProject PUBLIC "/GS-")
# C/C++ -> Code Generation -> Security Check -> Disable Security Check
target_compile_options(CMakeProject PUBLIC "/Gy")
# C/C++ -> Code Generation -> Enable Function Level Linking
target_link_options(CMakeProject PUBLIC "/MANIFEST:NO")
# Linker -> Manifest file -> Generate Manifest -> No
target_link_options(CMakeProject PUBLIC "/OPT:REF")
# Linker -> Optimization -> References -> Yes
target_link_options(CMakeProject PUBLIC "/OPT:ICF")
# Linker -> Optimization -> Enable COMDAT Folding -> Yes
target_link_options(CMakeProject PUBLIC "/INCREMENTAL:NO")
# Linker -> General -> Enable Incremental Linking -> No
endif()
endif()
```
This seems like a hackish way of doing it and I am wondering if there is a better simpler way to attain parity between default release mode builds of CMake and native Visual Studio IDE for MSVC.
Thank you.
---
### Author:  [@ben.boeckel](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/ben.boeckel)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2024, 5:10pm UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/comparing-visual-studio-ide-default-release-build-vs-cmake-default-release-build/10098/2 "2024-02-17T17:10:35Z")
> [@One\_Cable5781](#):
>
> This seems like a hackish way of doing it and I am wondering if there is a better simpler way to attain parity between default release mode builds of CMake and native Visual Studio IDE for MSVC.
CMake doesn’t aim to match arbitrary IDE settings collections like that. What you have looks to be the way to do it (except where CMake has abstractions like interprocedural optimization).
---
### Author:  [@One\_Cable5781](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/One_Cable5781)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2024, 3:38am UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/comparing-visual-studio-ide-default-release-build-vs-cmake-default-release-build/10098/3 "2024-02-19T03:38:25Z")
> CMake doesn’t aim to match arbitrary IDE settings collections like that.
Thanks for the information. Although, if I might add, it is not a collection of arbitrary IDE settings. It is actually just merely the out-of-the-box default Release build settings of Visual Studio IDE with no user changes/modifications applied on top.
---
### Author:  [@ben.boeckel](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/ben.boeckel)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2024, 4:01am UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/comparing-visual-studio-ide-default-release-build-vs-cmake-default-release-build/10098/4 "2024-02-19T04:01:00Z")
The “arbitrary” was intended to go with “IDE”, not “settings”. English lacks rigorous operator precedence ☹ .
---
### Author:  [@One\_Cable5781](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/One_Cable5781)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2024, 4:12am UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/comparing-visual-studio-ide-default-release-build-vs-cmake-default-release-build/10098/5 "2024-02-19T04:12:32Z")
😀
Fair enough. Still, VS is not an arbitrary IDE. Quite possibly, atleast on Windows, it is the most popular IDE/compiler toolkit.
I do not want to stretch the discussion further than this.
Thanks for CMake developers though. I am able to cross build the same code on Linux using VSCode also with minimal fuss.