diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 01decefb..61aaf226 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -4,6 +4,14 @@ set (CMAKE_MODULE_PATH "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/CMakeModules")
 ## (1) Read and set library version
 include (ParseVersionFile)
 
+# check if this is the main iproject
+# This can be removed if cmake 3.21 is used
+# https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/variable/PROJECT_IS_TOP_LEVEL.html
+set(PROJECT_IS_TOP_LEVEL FALSE)
+if (NOT DEFINED PROJECT_NAME)
+    set(PROJECT_IS_TOP_LEVEL TRUE)
+endif ()
+
 ## (2) CREATE PROJECT
 cmake_policy (SET CMP0048 NEW) # no more project version warnings
 project (sdsl
@@ -18,10 +26,13 @@ if (NOT CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE)
 endif ()
 
 ## (5) Options
-option (CODE_COVERAGE "Set ON to add code coverage compile options" OFF)
+option (SDSL_CODE_COVERAGE "Set ON to add code coverage compile options" OFF)
 option (SDSL_HEADER_TEST "Set ON to run header tests only" OFF)
-option (GENERATE_DOC "Set ON to genrate doxygen API reference in build/doc directory" OFF)
-option (USE_LIBCPP "Use the LLVM libc++ instead of GCC libstdc++ on OS X" ON)
+option (SDSL_BUILD_TESTS "Set ON to build tests" ${PROJECT_IS_TOP_LEVEL})
+option (SDSL_BUILD_TUTORIAL "Set ON to build tutorials" ${PROJECT_IS_TOP_LEVEL})
+option (SDSL_BUILD_EXAMPLES "Set ON to build examples" ${PROJECT_IS_TOP_LEVEL})
+option (SDSL_GENERATE_DOC "Set ON to genrate doxygen API reference in build/doc directory" OFF)
+option (SDSL_USE_LIBCPP "Use the LLVM libc++ instead of GCC libstdc++ on OS X" ON)
 
 ## (6) Compiler requirements and compile options
 include (CompilerFlags)
@@ -29,10 +40,14 @@ include (CompilerFlags)
 ## (7) Configure scripts
 configure_file ("${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/Make.helper.cmake" "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/Make.helper" @ONLY)
 
-enable_testing ()
 
-# (8) main library target
-set (gtest_dir ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/external/googletest)
+if (SDSL_BUILD_TESTS)
+    enable_testing ()
+
+    # (8) main library target
+    set (gtest_dir ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/external/googletest)
+endif()
+
 add_subdirectory (external)
 add_subdirectory (lib)
 
@@ -40,15 +55,25 @@ set (sdsl_include_directory "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/include")
 file (GLOB HEADERS "${sdsl_include_directory}/sdsl/*.hpp")
 add_custom_target (sdsl SOURCES ${HEADERS})
 
+add_library(sdsl-lite INTERFACE)
+target_include_directories(sdsl-lite INTERFACE SYSTEM ${sdsl_include_directory})
+add_library(sdsl-lite::sdsl-lite ALIAS sdsl-lite)
+
 # (9) test targets
 if (SDSL_HEADER_TEST)
     add_subdirectory (test/header)
     return ()
 endif ()
-add_subdirectory (test)
+if (SDSL_BUILD_TESTS)
+    add_subdirectory (test)
+endif()
 
 # (10) perform extra tasks such as doxygen / packaging and uninstall target
 add_subdirectory (extras)
 
-add_subdirectory (tutorial)
-add_subdirectory (examples)
+if (SDSL_BUILD_TUTORIAL)
+    add_subdirectory (tutorial)
+endif()
+if (SDSL_BUILD_EXAMPLES)
+    add_subdirectory (examples)
+endif()
diff --git a/CMakeModules/CompilerFlags.cmake b/CMakeModules/CompilerFlags.cmake
index aa6859c5..00f0bbee 100644
--- a/CMakeModules/CompilerFlags.cmake
+++ b/CMakeModules/CompilerFlags.cmake
@@ -32,12 +32,12 @@ if ("${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID}" STREQUAL "MSVC")
     add_definitions ("/DMSVC_COMPILER")
 endif ()
 
-if (CODE_COVERAGE)
+if (SDSL_CODE_COVERAGE)
     checkandappendcompilerflags ("Debug" "-g -fprofile-arcs -ftest-coverage -lgcov")
 endif ()
 
 if (APPLE)
-    if (USE_LIBCPP AND ("${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID}" MATCHES "^(Apple)?Clang$"))
+    if (SDSL_USE_LIBCPP AND ("${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID}" MATCHES "^(Apple)?Clang$"))
         checkandappendcompilerflags (${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE} "-stdlib=libc++")
     endif ()
 endif ()
diff --git a/extras/CMakeLists.txt b/extras/CMakeLists.txt
index 369f6621..ea258dc1 100644
--- a/extras/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/extras/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 include (Colors)
 
 # (1) generate docs
-if (GENERATE_DOC)
+if (SDSL_GENERATE_DOC)
     find_package (Doxygen)
     if (DOXYGEN_FOUND)
         configure_file (${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/Doxyfile.in ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/Doxyfile @ONLY)
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ if (GENERATE_DOC)
                            COMMENT "Generating API documentation with Doxygen"
                            VERBATIM)
     endif (DOXYGEN_FOUND)
-endif (GENERATE_DOC)
+endif (SDSL_GENERATE_DOC)
 
 ## (2) Add 'uninstall' target ##
 configure_file ("${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/../CMakeModules/cmake_uninstall.cmake.in"