The CMake version string as three non-negative integer components separated by . and possibly followed by - and other information. The first two components represent the feature level and the third component represents either a bug-fix level or development date.
Release versions and release candidate versions of CMake use the format:
<major>.<minor>.<patch>[-rc<n>]
where the <patch> component is less than 20000000. Development versions of CMake use the format:
<major>.<minor>.<date>[-<id>]
where the <date> component is of format CCYYMMDD and <id> may contain arbitrary text. This represents development as of a particular date following the <major>.<minor> feature release.
Individual component values are also available in variables:
Use the if() command VERSION_LESS, VERSION_GREATER, VERSION_EQUAL, VERSION_LESS_EQUAL, or VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL operators to compare version string values against CMAKE_VERSION using a component-wise test. Version component values may be 10 or larger so do not attempt to compare version strings as floating-point numbers.
Note
CMake versions 2.8.2 through 2.8.12 used three components for the feature level. Release versions represented the bug-fix level in a fourth component, i.e. <major>.<minor>.<patch>[.<tweak>][-rc<n>]. Development versions represented the development date in the fourth component, i.e. <major>.<minor>.<patch>.<date>[-<id>].
CMake versions prior to 2.8.2 used three components for the feature level and had no bug-fix component. Release versions used an even-valued second component, i.e. <major>.<even-minor>.<patch>[-rc<n>]. Development versions used an odd-valued second component with the development date as the third component, i.e. <major>.<odd-minor>.<date>.
The CMAKE_VERSION variable is defined by CMake 2.6.3 and higher. Earlier versions defined only the individual component variables.
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Licensed under the BSD 3-clause License.
https://cmake.org/cmake/help/v3.19/variable/CMAKE_VERSION.html