# FindBoost difference between Boost\_INCLUDE\_DIR and Boost\_INCLUDE\_DIRS

**URL:** https://discourse.cmake.org/t/findboost-difference-between-boost-include-dir-and-boost-include-dirs/855
**Category:** Code
**Created:** [March 25, 2020, 9:07am UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/findboost-difference-between-boost-include-dir-and-boost-include-dirs/855 "2020-03-25T09:07:26Z")
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### Author: ![ben.boeckel](https://discourse.cmake.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@ben.boeckel](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/ben.boeckel)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2020, 12:56pm UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/findboost-difference-between-boost-include-dir-and-boost-include-dirs/855/4 "2020-03-25T12:56:00Z")

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It’s a typical pattern that things directly found are singular while aggregates which may include dependencies is plural. Since `config.cmake` files don’t need to actually search for anything, the singular variants tend to not exist and only the plural versions are “end results” of the `find_package` call. There are some older modules which have not migrated to this usage pattern however.

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