Move blogs into pages directory.

pages/blog/2021-08-28-cmake-externalproject-module.html.php

@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+<p>Recently I've started working on a C++ project that uses the CMake build
+system.<sup><a href="#r1" >[1]</a></sup> The first thing I was in charge of
+doing was fixing the build, as one of the dependencies is the SeetaFace2
+project.<sup><a href="#r2" >[2]</a></sup> Originally you had to have the
+SeetaFace2 project in a directory adjacent to the SeetaRest project directory,
+and you would manually compile SeetaFace2. This, for obvious reasons, is not a
+good build setup. So my task was to integrate it directly into the build using
+CMake's <code>ExternalProject</code>
+module.<sup><a href="#r3" >[3]</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>Generally, for those of us used to the way things work on Linux, generally
+speaking you want to work solely with the dependencies you can install from your
+distribution's repositories. The problem with this is, save for certain very
+popular libraries/tools, there are some inconsistencies as to what packages may
+be available in different distributions, what versions they have available, or
+even if it's compiled with the flags you need for your project. It's still ideal
+to link to something from the repositories, but it's not always possible.</p>
+
+<p>This is where <code>ExternalProject</code> comes in. This allows for
+dependencies to be downloaded and compiled with specific options that best suite
+the project. It's also done in a rather simple manner. Just by looking at the
+<code>SeetaFace2.cmake</code> module for the project, it's fairly easy for
+anyone with a basic knowledge of CMake syntax to see how this project is built
+and setup.<sup><a href="#r4" >[4]</a></sup> And since you're having to build an
+entire other project, it's also helpful that you have the option of choosing
+which targets to build (instead of the entire project).</p>
+
+<ol class="refs" >
+	<li id="r1" >
+		<a href="https://gitgud.io/bug-zapper-software/seeta_rest"
+		   target="_blank" >
+		   "Seeta Rest" on GitGud
+		</a>
+	</li>
+	<li id="r2" >
+		<a href="https://github.com/seetafaceengine/SeetaFace2/"
+		   target="_blank" >
+		   "SeetaFace2" on GitHub
+		</a>
+	</li>
+	<li id="r3" >
+		<a href="https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/module/ExternalProject.html"
+		   target="_blank" >
+		   ExternalProject CMake documentation
+		</a>
+	</li>
+	<li id="r4" >
+		<a href="https://gitgud.io/bug-zapper-software/seeta_rest/-/blob/master/CMake/SeetaFace2.cmake"
+		   target="_blank" >
+		   <code>SeetaFace2.cmake</code> file from Seeta Rest on GitGud.
+		</a>
+	</li>
+</ol>