Documentation/Labs/BuildSystem ImproveCMakeConfigurationTime

During the 31st 3D Slicer Project Week, we found a loss of performance in CMake for the generation of Slicer targets in the operating system Windows. The performance loss means the time for the generation of the target is larger than the operating system Linux. This page analysises the performance loss in Windows in several computers: two desktops and a laptop. The computer configurations are shown in the table below.

	Desktop1	Desktop2	Surface
Processor	Intel i7-6700 CPU 3.40GHz	Intel i7-6700 CPU 3.40GHz	Intel i7-8650U CPU 2.11GHz
RAM	16GB	16GB	16GB
Disk storage	HHD	SSD	SSD
Operating system	Windows 10 x64	Windows 10 x64	Windows 10 x64

Analysis and results

The 21 tests were run in different configuration variables and were shown the table below. The variables are: Slicer_BUILD_CL, Slicer_BUILD_I18N_SUPPORT, Slicer_USE_PYTHONQT, Slicer_BUILD_QTLOADABLEMODULES, Slicer_BUILD_QTSCRIPTEDMODULES, Slicer_EP_LABEL_REMOTE_MODULE, CMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES. The internationalization(I18n) is not activated any tests.

Test name	Command Line	Desktop1	Desktop2	Surface
test1	cmake -DSlicer_BUILD_CLI=1 -DSlicer_BUILD_I18N_SUPPORT=0 -DSlicer_USE_PYTHONQT=1 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTLOADABLEMODULES=1 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTSCRIPTEDMODULES=1 -DSlicer_EP_LABEL_REMOTE_MODULE="MultiVolumeExplorer_SOURCE_DIR;MultiVolumeImporter_SOURCE_DIR;SimpleFilters_SOURCE_DIR;BRAINSTools_SOURCE_DIR;DataStore_SOURCE_DIR;CompareVolumes_SOURCE_DIR;LandmarkRegistration_SOURCE_DIR" -DCMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES="Debug;Release;MinSizeRel;RelWithDebInfo" .	411.44	233.75	234.09
test2	cmake -DSlicer_BUILD_CLI=1 -DSlicer_BUILD_I18N_SUPPORT=0 -DSlicer_USE_PYTHONQT=1 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTLOADABLEMODULES=1 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTSCRIPTEDMODULES=1 -DSlicer_EP_LABEL_REMOTE_MODULE="MultiVolumeExplorer_SOURCE_DIR;MultiVolumeImporter_SOURCE_DIR;SimpleFilters_SOURCE_DIR;BRAINSTools_SOURCE_DIR;DataStore_SOURCE_DIR;CompareVolumes_SOURCE_DIR;LandmarkRegistration_SOURCE_DIR" -DCMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES="Debug;Release;MinSizeRel" .	277.93	174.74	206.47
test3	cmake -DSlicer_BUILD_CLI=1 -DSlicer_BUILD_I18N_SUPPORT=0 -DSlicer_USE_PYTHONQT=1 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTLOADABLEMODULES=1 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTSCRIPTEDMODULES=1 -DSlicer_EP_LABEL_REMOTE_MODULE="MultiVolumeExplorer_SOURCE_DIR;MultiVolumeImporter_SOURCE_DIR;SimpleFilters_SOURCE_DIR;BRAINSTools_SOURCE_DIR;DataStore_SOURCE_DIR;CompareVolumes_SOURCE_DIR;LandmarkRegistration_SOURCE_DIR" -DCMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES="Debug;Release" .	206.36	151.39	170.40
test4	Slicer_BUILD_CLI=1 -DSlicer_BUILD_I18N_SUPPORT=0 -DSlicer_USE_PYTHONQT=1 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTLOADABLEMODULES=1 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTSCRIPTEDMODULES=1 -DSlicer_EP_LABEL_REMOTE_MODULE="MultiVolumeExplorer_SOURCE_DIR;MultiVolumeImporter_SOURCE_DIR;SimpleFilters_SOURCE_DIR;BRAINSTools_SOURCE_DIR;DataStore_SOURCE_DIR;CompareVolumes_SOURCE_DIR;LandmarkRegistration_SOURCE_DIR" -DCMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES="Debug" .	140.92	103.25	122.25
test5	cmake -DSlicer_BUILD_CLI=1 -DSlicer_BUILD_I18N_SUPPORT=0 -DSlicer_USE_PYTHONQT=1 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTLOADABLEMODULES=1 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTSCRIPTEDMODULES=1 -DSlicer_EP_LABEL_REMOTE_MODULE="MultiVolumeExplorer_SOURCE_DIR;MultiVolumeImporter_SOURCE_DIR;SimpleFilters_SOURCE_DIR;BRAINSTools_SOURCE_DIR;DataStore_SOURCE_DIR;CompareVolumes_SOURCE_DIR;LandmarkRegistration_SOURCE_DIR" -DCMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES="Release" .	142.92	88.69	117.91
test6	cmake -DSlicer_BUILD_CLI=1 -DSlicer_BUILD_I18N_SUPPORT=0 -DSlicer_USE_PYTHONQT=1 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTLOADABLEMODULES=1 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTSCRIPTEDMODULES=1 -DSlicer_EP_LABEL_REMOTE_MODULE="" -DCMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES="Debug;Release;MinSizeRel;RelWithDebInfo" .	328.13	206.30	244.59
test7	cmake -DSlicer_BUILD_CLI=1 -DSlicer_BUILD_I18N_SUPPORT=0 -DSlicer_USE_PYTHONQT=1 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTLOADABLEMODULES=1 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTSCRIPTEDMODULES=0 -DSlicer_EP_LABEL_REMOTE_MODULE="MultiVolumeExplorer_SOURCE_DIR;MultiVolumeImporter_SOURCE_DIR;SimpleFilters_SOURCE_DIR;BRAINSTools_SOURCE_DIR;DataStore_SOURCE_DIR;CompareVolumes_SOURCE_DIR;LandmarkRegistration_SOURCE_DIR" -DCMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES="Debug;Release;MinSizeRel;RelWithDebInfo" .	326.36	228.41	251.93
test8	cmake -DSlicer_BUILD_CLI=0 -DSlicer_BUILD_I18N_SUPPORT=0 -DSlicer_USE_PYTHONQT=1 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTLOADABLEMODULES=1 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTSCRIPTEDMODULES=1 -DSlicer_EP_LABEL_REMOTE_MODULE="MultiVolumeExplorer_SOURCE_DIR;MultiVolumeImporter_SOURCE_DIR;SimpleFilters_SOURCE_DIR;BRAINSTools_SOURCE_DIR;DataStore_SOURCE_DIR;CompareVolumes_SOURCE_DIR;LandmarkRegistration_SOURCE_DIR" -DCMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES="Debug;Release;MinSizeRel;RelWithDebInfo" .	315.46	233.08	241.44
test9	cmake -DSlicer_BUILD_CLI=1 -DSlicer_BUILD_I18N_SUPPORT=0 -DSlicer_USE_PYTHONQT=0 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTLOADABLEMODULES=1 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTSCRIPTEDMODULES=0 -DSlicer_EP_LABEL_REMOTE_MODULE="" -DCMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES="Debug;Release;MinSizeRel;RelWithDebInfo" .	281.66	176.60	208.52
test10	cmake -DSlicer_BUILD_CLI=1 -DSlicer_BUILD_I18N_SUPPORT=0 -DSlicer_USE_PYTHONQT=1 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTLOADABLEMODULES=0 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTSCRIPTEDMODULES=1 -DSlicer_EP_LABEL_REMOTE_MODULE="" -DCMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES="Debug;Release;MinSizeRel;RelWithDebInfo" .	106.35	58.53	80.26
test11	cmake -DSlicer_BUILD_CLI=0 -DSlicer_BUILD_I18N_SUPPORT=0 -DSlicer_USE_PYTHONQT=0 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTLOADABLEMODULES=0 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTSCRIPTEDMODULES=0 -DSlicer_EP_LABEL_REMOTE_MODULE="" -DCMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES="Debug;Release;MinSizeRel;RelWithDebInfo" .	64.51	42.02	39.71
test12	cmake -DSlicer_BUILD_CLI=0 -DSlicer_BUILD_I18N_SUPPORT=0 -DSlicer_USE_PYTHONQT=0 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTLOADABLEMODULES=0 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTSCRIPTEDMODULES=0 -DSlicer_EP_LABEL_REMOTE_MODULE="" -DCMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES="Debug;Release;MinSizeRel" .	50.51	32.92	33.8
test13	cmake -DSlicer_BUILD_CLI=0 -DSlicer_BUILD_I18N_SUPPORT=0 -DSlicer_USE_PYTHONQT=0 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTLOADABLEMODULES=0 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTSCRIPTEDMODULES=0 -DSlicer_EP_LABEL_REMOTE_MODULE="" -DCMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES="Debug;Release" .	39.71	24.23	28.11
test14	cmake -DSlicer_BUILD_CLI=0 -DSlicer_BUILD_I18N_SUPPORT=0 -DSlicer_USE_PYTHONQT=0 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTLOADABLEMODULES=0 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTSCRIPTEDMODULES=0 -DSlicer_EP_LABEL_REMOTE_MODULE="" -DCMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES="Debug" .	27.96	15.76	22.38
test15	Slicer_BUILD_CLI=0 -DSlicer_BUILD_I18N_SUPPORT=0 -DSlicer_USE_PYTHONQT=0 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTLOADABLEMODULES=0 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTSCRIPTEDMODULES=0 -DSlicer_EP_LABEL_REMOTE_MODULE="" -DCMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES="Release" .	28.04	15.76	22.28
test16	cmake -DSlicer_BUILD_CLI=0 -DSlicer_BUILD_I18N_SUPPORT=0 -DSlicer_USE_PYTHONQT=0 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTLOADABLEMODULES=0 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTSCRIPTEDMODULES=0 -DSlicer_EP_LABEL_REMOTE_MODULE="" -DCMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES="RelWithDebInfo" .	28.33	16.20	22.56
test17	cmake -DSlicer_BUILD_CLI=1 -DSlicer_BUILD_I18N_SUPPORT=0 -DSlicer_USE_PYTHONQT=0 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTLOADABLEMODULES=0 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTSCRIPTEDMODULES=0 -DSlicer_EP_LABEL_REMOTE_MODULE="" -DCMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES="Debug" .	42.19	15.86	35.32
test18	cmake -DSlicer_BUILD_CLI=0 -DSlicer_BUILD_I18N_SUPPORT=0 -DSlicer_USE_PYTHONQT=1 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTLOADABLEMODULES=0 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTSCRIPTEDMODULES=0 -DSlicer_EP_LABEL_REMOTE_MODULE="" -DCMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES="Debug" .	32.31	19.69	26.32
test19	cmake -DSlicer_BUILD_CLI=0 -DSlicer_BUILD_I18N_SUPPORT=0 -DSlicer_USE_PYTHONQT=1 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTLOADABLEMODULES=0 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTSCRIPTEDMODULES=1 -DSlicer_EP_LABEL_REMOTE_MODULE="" -DCMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES="Debug" .	36.63	24.95	31.65
test20	cmake -DSlicer_BUILD_CLI=0 -DSlicer_BUILD_I18N_SUPPORT=0 -DSlicer_USE_PYTHONQT=0 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTLOADABLEMODULES=1 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTSCRIPTEDMODULES=0 -DSlicer_EP_LABEL_REMOTE_MODULE="" -DCMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES="Debug" .	98.78	65.97	75.91
test21	cmake -DSlicer_BUILD_CLI=1 -DSlicer_BUILD_I18N_SUPPORT=0 -DSlicer_USE_PYTHONQT=1 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTLOADABLEMODULES=1 -DSlicer_BUILD_QTSCRIPTEDMODULES=1 -DSlicer_EP_LABEL_REMOTE_MODULE="" -DCMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES="Debug" .	131.82	86.52	109.27

The figure below shows the previous information in a graphic mode.