platformTargets

PlatformTargets is a concept used in software build configurations to enumerate the set of platforms a project is intended to run on. Each platformTarget describes a target platform in terms of operating system, architecture, runtime requirements, and packaging format. The collection enables cross-platform builds by allowing the build system to vary compiler flags, dependencies, and resources for each target.

In practice, platformTargets are defined in build configuration files or scripts. A target might specify attributes such as OS (Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, Android), architecture (x86_64, arm64, etc.), toolchain, minimum runtime or OS version, and how artifacts should be packaged (installer, shared library, executable, or container image). Projects may maintain a matrix of targets to produce a multi-platform library, application, or distribution.

Common uses include multi-platform libraries that must expose compatible APIs across targets, native executables that include platform-specific code paths, and mobile or embedded projects that require distinct build and packaging steps per target. PlatformTargets often interact with conditional compilation, platform-specific dependencies, and resource selection so that each output includes the correct components for its platform.

Host versus target: the host platform is where the build runs; the target platform is the intended runtime environment of the produced artifact. Maintaining clear, explicit platformTargets helps ensure consistent builds, easier testing, and reliable packaging across multiple environments.