diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8cf8b5e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+[submodule "googletest"]
+	path = googletest
+	url = https://github.com/google/googletest.git
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index ef461cf..9e8292f 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -21,92 +21,63 @@
 # SOFTWARE.
 
 ###
-# config
-###
-cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8.7)
-set(CMAKE_MACOSX_RPATH 1)
-include(${CMAKE_ROOT}/Modules/ExternalProject.cmake)
-
-
-###
-# verbose make
+# project
 ###
-# set(CMAKE_VERBOSE_MAKEFILE TRUE)
-
+# see cmake --help-policy CMP<NNNN>
+cmake_policy(SET CMP0048 NEW)
+cmake_policy(SET CMP0077 NEW)
+project(tacopie
+  LANGUAGES CXX
+  VERSION 3.2.0
+  DESCRIPTION "C++ TCP Library"
+  HOMEPAGE_URL "")
 
 ###
-# project
+# config
 ###
-set(PROJECT tacopie)
-project(${PROJECT} CXX)
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.13)
+option(VERBOSE_MAKEFILE "Generate verbose output from Makefile builds" OFF)
+set(CMAKE_VERBOSE_MAKEFILE ${VERBOSE_MAKEFILE})
+set(CMAKE_MACOSX_RPATH 1)
+set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 11)
 
+set(EXPORT_TARGET_NAME ${PROJECT_NAME} CACHE STRING "Name of the exported CMake target used in install(EXPORT)")
 
 ###
 # compilation options
 ###
-IF (MSVC)
-  set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} /W3 /O2 /bigobj")
+if (MSVC)
+  add_compile_options(/W3 /O2 /bigobj)
 
   # was causing conflics with gtest build
   string(REPLACE "/RTC1" "" CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG ${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG})
-
-  IF ("${MSVC_RUNTIME_LIBRARY_CONFIG}" STREQUAL "")
+  # CMake 3.15 has support for automatically configuring MSVC runtime
+  # through target property MSVC_RUNTIME_LIBRARY. Since I'm not
+  # planning on supporting old CMake versions I will most likely bump
+  # cmake_minimum_required to 3.15 at some point.
+  if ("${MSVC_RUNTIME_LIBRARY_CONFIG}" STREQUAL "")
     set(MSVC_RUNTIME_LIBRARY_CONFIG "/MT")
-  ENDIF()
+  endif ()
 
   foreach (flag_var CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_RELEASE)
-    IF ("${MSVC_RUNTIME_LIBRARY_CONFIG}" STREQUAL "/MT")
+    if ("${MSVC_RUNTIME_LIBRARY_CONFIG}" STREQUAL "/MT")
       string(REPLACE "/MD" "/MT" ${flag_var} "${${flag_var}}")
-    ELSEIF ("${MSVC_RUNTIME_LIBRARY_CONFIG}" STREQUAL "/MD")
+    elseif ("${MSVC_RUNTIME_LIBRARY_CONFIG}" STREQUAL "/MD")
       string(REPLACE "/MT" "/MD" ${flag_var} "${${flag_var}}")
-    ELSE ()
+    else ()
       string(REPLACE "/MD" "${MSVC_RUNTIME_LIBRARY_CONFIG}" ${flag_var} "${${flag_var}}")
       string(REPLACE "/MT" "${MSVC_RUNTIME_LIBRARY_CONFIG}" ${flag_var} "${${flag_var}}")
-    ENDIF()
+    endif()
   endforeach()
 
   add_definitions(-D_UNICODE)
   add_definitions(-DUNICODE)
   add_definitions(-DWIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN)
-ELSE ()
-  set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -std=c++11 -W -Wall -Wextra -O3")
-ENDIF (MSVC)
-
-
-###
-# variables
-###
-set(DEPS_INCLUDES ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/deps/include)
-set(DEPS_LIBRARIES ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/deps/lib)
-set(TACOPIE_INCLUDES ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/includes)
-
-
-###
-# includes
-###
-include_directories(${TACOPIE_INCLUDES})
-
-###
-# sources
-###
-set(SRC_DIRS "sources" "sources/network" "sources/network/common" "sources/utils" "includes/tacopie" "includes/tacopie/network" "includes/tacopie/utils")
-
-IF (WIN32)
-  set(SRC_DIRS ${SRC_DIRS} "sources/network/windows")
-ELSE ()
-  set(SRC_DIRS ${SRC_DIRS} "sources/network/unix")
-ENDIF (WIN32)
-
-foreach(dir ${SRC_DIRS})
-  # get directory sources and headers
-  file(GLOB s_${dir} "${dir}/*.cpp")
-  file(GLOB h_${dir} "${dir}/*.hpp")
-  file(GLOB i_${dir} "${dir}/*.ipp")
-
-  # set sources
-  set(SOURCES ${SOURCES} ${s_${dir}} ${h_${dir}} ${i_${dir}})
-endforeach()
+else ()
+  add_compile_options(-W -Wall -Wextra -O3)
+endif ()
 
+include(sources.cmake)
 
 ###
 # outputs
@@ -116,78 +87,83 @@ set(CMAKE_LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/lib)
 set(CMAKE_RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/bin)
 set(CMAKE_PKGCONFIG_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY}/pkgconfig)
 
-
 ###
 # pkg-config
 ###
 configure_file("tacopie.pc.in" "${CMAKE_PKGCONFIG_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY}/tacopie.pc" @ONLY)
 
-
 ###
 # executable
 ###
-add_library(${PROJECT} ${SOURCES})
-set_property(TARGET ${PROJECT} PROPERTY POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE ON)
+add_library(${PROJECT_NAME} SHARED ${tacopie_sources})
+target_include_directories(${PROJECT_NAME} PUBLIC
+  $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${tacopie_includes}>
+  $<INSTALL_INTERFACE:includes>)
 
-IF (WIN32)
-   set_target_properties(${PROJECT}
-                         PROPERTIES COMPILE_PDB_NAME ${PROJECT}
-                         COMPILE_PDB_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/lib)
-ENDIF (WIN32)
+if (WIN32)
+  set_target_properties(${PROJECT_NAME} PROPERTIES
+    COMPILE_PDB_NAME ${PROJECT_NAME}
+    COMPILE_PDB_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/lib)
+endif ()
 
-IF (WIN32)
-  target_link_libraries(${PROJECT} ws2_32)
-ELSE ()
-  target_link_libraries(${PROJECT} pthread)
-ENDIF (WIN32)
+set_target_properties(${PROJECT_NAME} PROPERTIES
+  SOVERSION ${PROJECT_VERSION}
+  RESOURCE ${CMAKE_PKGCONFIG_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY}/tacopie.pc)
+
+find_package(Threads REQUIRED)
+target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE Threads::Threads)
 
 # __TACOPIE_LOGGING_ENABLED
-IF (LOGGING_ENABLED)
-  set_property(TARGET ${PROJECT} APPEND_STRING PROPERTY COMPILE_DEFINITIONS " __TACOPIE_LOGGING_ENABLED=${LOGGING_ENABLED}")
-ENDIF (LOGGING_ENABLED)
+option(LOGGING_ENABLED "Enable logging" OFF)
+if (LOGGING_ENABLED)
+  target_compile_definitions(${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE __TACOPIE_LOGGING_ENABLED=${LOGGING_ENABLED})
+endif ()
 
 # __TACOPIE_CONNECTION_QUEUE_SIZE
-IF (CONNECTION_QUEUE_SIZE)
-  set_property(TARGET ${PROJECT} APPEND_STRING PROPERTY COMPILE_DEFINITIONS " __TACOPIE_CONNECTION_QUEUE_SIZE=${CONNECTION_QUEUE_SIZE}")
-ENDIF (CONNECTION_QUEUE_SIZE)
+set(CONNECTION_QUEUE_SIZE "" CACHE STRING "Custom connection queue size")
+if (CONNECTION_QUEUE_SIZE MATCHES "^[0-9]+")
+  target_compile_definitions(${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE __TACOPIE_CONNECTION_QUEUE_SIZE=${CONNECTION_QUEUE_SIZE})
+endif ()
 
 #__TACOPIE_IO_SERVICE_NB_WORKERS
-IF (IO_SERVICE_NB_WORKERS)
-  set_property(TARGET ${PROJECT} APPEND_STRING PROPERTY COMPILE_DEFINITIONS " __TACOPIE_IO_SERVICE_NB_WORKERS=${IO_SERVICE_NB_WORKERS}")
-ENDIF(IO_SERVICE_NB_WORKERS)
+set(IO_SERVICE_NB_WORKERS "" CACHE STRING "Number of service workers")
+if (IO_SERVICE_NB_WORKERS MATCHES "^[1-9]+")
+  target_compile_definitions(${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE __TACOPIE_IO_SERVICE_NB_WORKERS=${IO_SERVICE_NB_WORKERS})
+endif ()
 
 #__TACOPIE_TIMEOUT
-IF (SELECT_TIMEOUT)
-  set_property(TARGET ${PROJECT} APPEND_STRING PROPERTY COMPILE_DEFINITIONS " __TACOPIE_TIMEOUT=${SELECT_TIMEOUT}")
-ENDIF(SELECT_TIMEOUT)
-
+set(SELECT_TIMEOUT "" CACHE STRING "Select timeout")
+if (SELECT_TIMEOUT MATCHES "^[0-9]+")
+  target_compile_definitions(${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE __TACOPIE_TIMEOUT=${SELECT_TIMEOUT})
+endif ()
 
 ###
 # install
 ###
-# ensure lib and bin directories exist
-install(CODE "FILE(MAKE_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY})")
-install(CODE "FILE(MAKE_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY})")
-# install tacopie
-install(DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY}/ DESTINATION lib USE_SOURCE_PERMISSIONS)
-install(DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY}/ DESTINATION bin USE_SOURCE_PERMISSIONS)
-install(DIRECTORY ${TACOPIE_INCLUDES}/ DESTINATION include USE_SOURCE_PERMISSIONS)
-
+# NOTE: this fails if more directories are added to ${tacopie_includes}
+include(GNUInstallDirs)
+install(DIRECTORY ${tacopie_includes}/ DESTINATION include USE_SOURCE_PERMISSIONS)
+install(TARGETS ${PROJECT_NAME} EXPORT ${EXPORT_TARGET_NAME}
+  LIBRARY
+  RESOURCE DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR}/pkgconfig)
 
 ###
 # examples
 ###
-IF (BUILD_EXAMPLES)
+option(BUILD_EXAMPLES "Build examples" OFF)
+if (BUILD_EXAMPLES)
   add_subdirectory(examples)
-ENDIF(BUILD_EXAMPLES)
+endif ()
 
 
 ###
 # tests
 ###
-IF (BUILD_TESTS)
+option(BUILD_TESTS "Build tests" OFF)
+if (BUILD_TESTS)
+  if (NOT TARGET gtest)
+    set(INSTALL_GTEST OFF)
+    add_subdirectory(googletest)
+  endif ()
   add_subdirectory(tests)
-  ExternalProject_Add("googletest"
-                      GIT_REPOSITORY "https://github.com/google/googletest.git"
-                      CMAKE_ARGS "-DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/deps")
-ENDIF(BUILD_TESTS)
+endif ()
diff --git a/googletest b/googletest
new file mode 160000
index 0000000..703bd9c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/googletest
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Subproject commit 703bd9caab50b139428cea1aaff9974ebee5742e
diff --git a/sources.cmake b/sources.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..85620c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sources.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+###
+# sources
+###
+set(tacopie_sources
+  sources/network/common/tcp_socket.cpp
+  sources/network/io_service.cpp
+  sources/network/tcp_client.cpp
+  sources/network/tcp_server.cpp
+  sources/utils/error.cpp
+  sources/utils/logger.cpp
+  sources/utils/thread_pool.cpp)
+
+if (MSVC)
+  list(APPEND tacopie_sources
+    sources/network/windows/windows_self_pipe.cpp
+    sources/network/windows/windows_tcp_socket.cpp)
+else()
+  list(APPEND tacopie_sources
+    sources/network/unix/unix_self_pipe.cpp
+    sources/network/unix/unix_tcp_socket.cpp)
+endif()
+
+###
+# includes
+###
+set(tacopie_includes ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/includes)
diff --git a/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
index b732b75..5bd0747 100644
--- a/tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -20,55 +20,15 @@
 # OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
 # SOFTWARE.
 
-###
-# project
-###
-set(PROJECT tacopie_tests)
-project(${PROJECT} CXX)
-
-
-###
-# compilation options
-###
-IF (NOT WIN32)
-  set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -std=c++11")
-ENDIF (NOT WIN32)
-
-
-###
-# includes
-###
-include_directories(${DEPS_INCLUDES} ${TACOPIE_INCLUDES})
-
-
-###
-# libraries
-###
-link_directories(${DEPS_LIBRARIES})
-
-
 ###
 # sources
 ###
-set(SOURCES "")
-set(DIRS "sources" "sources/spec" "sources/spec/**")
-foreach(dir ${DIRS})
-  # get directory sources
-  file(GLOB s_${dir} "${dir}/*.cpp")
-  # set sources
-  set(SOURCES ${SOURCES} ${s_${dir}})
-endforeach()
-
+set(tacopie_test_sources
+  sources/main.cpp)
 
 ###
 # executable
 ###
-add_executable(${PROJECT} ${SOURCES})
-
-target_link_libraries(${PROJECT} tacopie gtest)
-
-IF (WIN32)
-  target_link_libraries(${PROJECT} ws2_32)
-ELSE ()
-  target_link_libraries(${PROJECT} pthread)
-ENDIF (WIN32)
+add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME}_tests ${tacopie_test_sources})
+target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME}_tests PRIVATE ${PROJECT_NAME} gtest)
+add_test(NAME ${PROJECT_NAME}::tests COMMAND ${PROJECT_NAME}_tests)